1 files changed, 8230 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/2276.txt b/2276.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..97d9fef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2276.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8230 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a
+Justified Sinner, by James Hogg
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
+
+Author: James Hogg
+
+Posting Date: March 21, 2009 [EBook #2276]
+Release Date: August, 2000
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRIVATE MEMOIRS OF JUSTIFIED SINNER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Andreas Philipp and Martin Adamson. HTML version
+by Al Haines.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE PRIVATE MEMOIRS
+  AND CONFESSIONS
+  OF A JUSTIFIED SINNER
+
+  WRITTEN BY HIMSELF
+
+  WITH A DETAIL OF CURIOUS TRADITIONARY FACTS, AND
+  OTHER EVIDENCE, BY THE EDITOR
+
+
+By
+
+James Hogg
+
+
+
+
+THE EDITOR'S NARRATIVE
+
+
+It appears from tradition, as well as some parish registers still
+extant, that the lands of Dalcastle (or Dalchastel, as it is often
+spelled) were possessed by a family of the name of Colwan, about one
+hundred and fifty years ago, and for at least a century previous to
+that period. That family was supposed to have been a branch of the
+ancient family of Colquhoun, and it is certain that from it spring the
+Cowans that spread towards the Border. I find that, in the year 1687,
+George Colwan succeeded his uncle of the same name, in the lands of
+Dalchastel and Balgrennan; and, this being all I can gather of the
+family from history, to tradition I must appeal for the remainder of
+the motley adventures of that house. But, of the matter furnished by
+the latter of these powerful monitors, I have no reason to complain: It
+has been handed down to the world in unlimited abundance; and I am
+certain that, in recording the hideous events which follow, I am only
+relating to the greater part of the inhabitants of at least four
+counties of Scotland matters of which they were before perfectly well
+informed.
+
+This George was a rich man, or supposed to be so, and was married, when
+considerably advanced in life, to the sole heiress and reputed daughter
+of a Baillie Orde, of Glasgow. This proved a conjunction anything but
+agreeable to the parties contracting. It is well known that the
+Reformation principles had long before that time taken a powerful hold
+of the hearts and affections of the people of Scotland, although the
+feeling was by no means general, or in equal degrees; and it so
+happened that this married couple felt completely at variance on the
+subject. Granting it to have been so, one would have thought that the
+laird, owing to his retiring situation, would have been the one that
+inclined to the stern doctrines of the reformers; and that the young
+and gay dame from the city would have adhered to the free principles
+cherished by the court party, and indulged in rather to extremity, in
+opposition to their severe and carping contemporaries.
+
+The contrary, however, happened to be the case. The laird was what his
+country neighbours called "a droll, careless chap", with a very limited
+proportion of the fear of God in his heart, and very nearly as little
+of the fear of man. The laird had not intentionally wronged or offended
+either of the parties, and perceived not the necessity of deprecating
+their vengeance. He had hitherto believed that he was living in most
+cordial terms with the greater part of the inhabitants of the earth,
+and with the powers above in particular: but woe be unto him if he was
+not soon convinced of the fallacy of such damning security! for his
+lady was the most severe and gloomy of all bigots to the principles of
+the Reformation. Hers were not the tenets of the great reformers, but
+theirs mightily overstrained and deformed. Theirs was an unguent hard
+to be swallowed; but hers was that unguent embittered and overheated
+until nature could not longer bear it. She had imbibed her ideas from
+the doctrines of one flaming predestinarian divine alone; and these
+were so rigid that they became a stumbling block to many of his
+brethren, and a mighty handle for the enemies of his party to turn the
+machine of the state against them.
+
+The wedding festivities at Dalcastle partook of all the gaiety, not of
+that stern age, but of one previous to it. There was feasting, dancing,
+piping, and singing: the liquors were handed, around in great fulness,
+the ale in large wooden bickers, and the brandy in capacious horns of
+oxen. The laird gave full scope to his homely glee. He danced--he
+snapped his fingers to the music--clapped his hands and shouted at the
+turn of the tune. He saluted every girl in the hall whose appearance
+was anything tolerable, and requested of their sweethearts to take the
+same freedom with his bride, by way of retaliation. But there she sat
+at the head of the hall in still and blooming beauty, absolutely
+refusing to tread a single measure with any gentleman there. The only
+enjoyment in which she appeared to partake was in now and then stealing
+a word of sweet conversation with her favourite pastor about divine
+things; for he had accompanied her home after marrying her to her
+husband, to see her fairly settled in her new dwelling. He addressed
+her several times by her new name, Mrs. Colwan; but she turned away her
+head disgusted, and looked with pity and contempt towards the old
+inadvertent sinner, capering away in the height of his unregenerated
+mirth. The minister perceived the workings of her pious mind, and
+thenceforward addressed her by the courteous title of Lady Dalcastle,
+which sounded somewhat better, as not coupling her name with one of the
+wicked: and there is too great reason to believe that, for all the
+solemn vows she had come under, and these were of no ordinary binding,
+particularly on the laird's part, she at that time despised, if not
+abhorred him, in her heart.
+
+The good parson again blessed her, and went away. She took leave of him
+with tears in her eyes, entreating him often to visit her in that
+heathen land of the Amorite, the Hittite, and the Girgashite: to which
+he assented, on many solemn and qualifying conditions--and then the
+comely bride retired to her chamber to pray.
+
+It was customary, in those days, for the bride's-man and maiden, and a
+few select friends, to visit the new-married couple after they had
+retired to rest, and drink a cup to their healths, their happiness, and
+a numerous posterity. But the laird delighted not in this: he wished to
+have his jewel to himself; and, slipping away quietly from his jovial
+party, he retired to his chamber to his beloved, and bolted the door.
+He found her engaged with the writings of the Evangelists, and terribly
+demure. The laird went up to caress her; but she turned away her head,
+and spoke of the follies of aged men, and something of the broad way
+that leadeth to destruction. The laird did not thoroughly comprehend
+this allusion; but being considerably flustered by drinking, and
+disposed to take all in good part, he only remarked, as he took off his
+shoes and stockings, that, "whether the way was broad or narrow, it was
+time that they were in their bed."
+
+"Sure, Mr. Colwan, you won't go to bed to-night, at such an important
+period of your life, without first saying prayers for yourself and me."
+
+When she said this, the laird had his head down almost to the ground,
+loosing his shoe-buckle; but when he heard of prayers, on such a night,
+he raised his face suddenly up, which was all over as flushed and red
+as a rose, and answered:
+
+"Prayers, Mistress! Lord help your crazed head, is this a night for
+prayers?"
+
+He had better have held his peace. There was such a torrent of profound
+divinity poured out upon him that the laird became ashamed, both of
+himself and his new-made spouse, and wist not what to say: but the
+brandy helped him out.
+
+"It strikes me, my dear, that religious devotion would be somewhat out
+of place to-night," said he. "Allowing that it is ever so beautiful,
+and ever so beneficial, were we to ride on the rigging of it at all
+times, would we not be constantly making a farce of it: It would be
+like reading the Bible and the jestbook, verse about, and would render
+the life of man a medley of absurdity and confusion."
+
+But, against the cant of the bigot or the hypocrite, no reasoning can
+aught avail. If you would argue until the end of life, the infallible
+creature must alone be right. So it proved with the laird. One
+Scripture text followed another, not in the least connected, and one
+sentence of the profound Mr. Wringhim's sermons after another, proving
+the duty of family worship, till the laird lost patience, and tossing
+himself into bed, said carelessly that he would leave that duty upon
+her shoulders for one night.
+
+The meek mind of Lady Dalcastle was somewhat disarranged by this sudden
+evolution. She felt that she was left rather in an awkward situation.
+However, to show her unconscionable spouse that she was resolved to
+hold fast her integrity, she kneeled down and prayed in terms so potent
+that she deemed she was sure of making an impression on him. She did
+so; for in a short time the laird began to utter a response so fervent
+that she was utterly astounded, and fairly driven from the chain of her
+orisons. He began, in truth, to sound a nasal bugle of no ordinary
+calibre--the notes being little inferior to those of a military
+trumpet. The lady tried to proceed, but every returning note from the
+bed burst on her ear with a louder twang, and a longer peal, till the
+concord of sweet sounds became so truly pathetic that the meek spirit
+of the dame was quite overcome; and, after shedding a flood of tears,
+she arose from her knees, and retired to the chimney-corner with her
+Bible in her lap, there to spend the hours in holy meditation till such
+time as the inebriated trumpeter should awaken to a sense of propriety.
+
+The laird did not awake in any reasonable time; for, he being overcome
+with fatigue and wassail, his sleep became sounder, and his Morphean
+measures more intense. These varied a little in their structure; but
+the general run of the bars sounded something in this way:
+"Hic-hoc-wheew!" It was most profoundly ludicrous; and could not have
+missed exciting risibility in anyone save a pious, a disappointed, and
+humbled bride.
+
+The good dame wept bitterly. She could not for her life go and awaken
+the monster, and request him to make room for her: but she retired
+somewhere, for the laird, on awaking next morning, found that he was
+still lying alone. His sleep had been of the deepest and most genuine
+sort; and, all the time that it lasted, he had never once thought of
+either wives, children, or sweethearts, save in the way of dreaming
+about them; but, as his spirit began again by slow degrees to verge
+towards the boundaries of reason, it became lighter and more buoyant
+from the effects of deep repose, and his dreams partook of that
+buoyancy, yea, to a degree hardly expressible. He dreamed of the reel,
+the jig, the strathspey, and the corant; and the elasticity of his
+frame was such that he was bounding over the heads of maidens, and
+making his feet skimmer against the ceiling, enjoying, the while, the
+most ecstatic emotions. These grew too fervent for the shackles of the
+drowsy god to restrain. The nasal bugle ceased its prolonged sounds in
+one moment, and a sort of hectic laugh took its place. "Keep it
+going--play up, you devils!" cried the laird, without changing his
+position on the pillow. But this exertion to hold the fiddlers at their
+work fairly awakened the delighted dreamer, and, though he could not
+refrain from continuing, his laugh, beat length, by tracing out a
+regular chain of facts, came to be sensible of his real situation.
+"Rabina, where are you? What's become of you, my dear?" cried the
+laird. But there was no voice nor anyone that answered or regarded. He
+flung open the curtains, thinking to find her still on her knees, as he
+had seen her, but she was not there, either sleeping or waking.
+"Rabina! Mrs. Colwan!" shouted he, as loud as he could call, and then
+added in the same breath, "God save the king--I have lost my wife!"
+
+He sprung up and opened the casement: the day-light was beginning to
+streak the east, for it was spring, and the nights were short, and the
+mornings very long. The laird half dressed himself in an instant, and
+strode through every room in the house, opening the windows as he went,
+and scrutinizing every bed and every corner. He came into the hall
+where the wedding festival had been held; and as he opened the various
+windowboards, loving couples flew off like hares surprised too late in
+the morning among the early braird. "Hoo-boo! Fie, be frightened!"
+cried the laird. "Fie, rin like fools, as if ye were caught in an
+ill-turn!" His bride was not among them; so he was obliged to betake
+himself to further search. "She will be praying in some corner, poor
+woman," said he to himself. "It is an unlucky thing this praying. But,
+for my part, I fear I have behaved very ill; and I must endeavour to
+make amends."
+
+The laird continued his search, and at length found his beloved in the
+same bed with her Glasgow cousin who had acted as bridesmaid. "You sly
+and malevolent imp," said the laird; "you have played me such a trick
+when I was fast asleep! I have not known a frolic so clever, and, at
+the same time, so severe. Come along, you baggage you!"
+
+"Sir, I will let you know that I detest your principles and your person
+alike," said she. "It shall never be said, Sir, that my person was at
+the control of a heathenish man of Belial--a dangler among the
+daughters of women--a promiscuous dancer--and a player of unlawful
+games. Forgo your rudeness, Sir, I say, and depart away from my
+presence and that of my kinswoman.
+
+"Come along, I say, my charming Rab. If you were the pink of all
+puritans, and the saint of all saints, you are my wife, and must do as
+I command you."
+
+"Sir, I will sooner lay down my life than be subjected to your godless
+will; therefore I say, desist, and begone with you."
+
+But the laird regarded none of these testy sayings: he rolled her in a
+blanket, and bore her triumphantly away to his chamber, taking care to
+keep a fold or two of the blanket always rather near to her mouth, in
+case of any outrageous forthcoming of noise.
+
+The next day at breakfast the bride was long in making her appearance.
+Her maid asked to see her; but George did not choose that anybody
+should see her but himself. He paid her several visits, and always
+turned the key as he came out. At length breakfast was served; and
+during the time of refreshment the laird tried to break several jokes;
+but it was remarked that they wanted their accustomed brilliancy, and
+that his nose was particularly red at the top.
+
+Matters, without all doubt, had been very bad between the new-married
+couple; for in the course of the day the lady deserted her quarters,
+and returned to her father's house in Glasgow, after having been a
+night on the road; stage-coaches and steam-boats having then no
+existence in that quarter.
+
+Though Baillie Orde had acquiesced in his wife's asseveration regarding
+the likeness of their only daughter to her father, he never loved or
+admired her greatly; therefore this behaviour nothing astounded him. He
+questioned her strictly as to the grievous offence committed against
+her, and could discover nothing that warranted a procedure so fraught
+with disagreeable consequences. So, after mature deliberation, the
+baillie addressed her as follows:
+
+"Aye, aye, Raby! An' sae I find that Dalcastle has actually refused to
+say prayers with you when you ordered him; an' has guidit you in a rude
+indelicate manner, outstepping the respect due to my daughter--as my
+daughter. But, wi' regard to what is due to his own wife, of that he's
+a better judge nor me. However, since he has behaved in that manner to
+MY DAUGHTER, I shall be revenged on him for aince; for I shall return
+the obligation to ane nearer to him: that is, I shall take pennyworths
+of his wife--an' let him lick at that."
+
+"What do you mean, Sir?" said the astonished damsel.
+
+"I mean to be revenged on that villain Dalcastle," said he, "for what
+he has done to my daughter. Come hither, Mrs. Colwan, you shall pay for
+this."
+
+So saying, the baillie began to inflict corporal punishment on the
+runaway wife. His strokes were not indeed very deadly, but he made a
+mighty flourish in the infliction, pretending to be in a great rage
+only at the Laird of Dalcastle. "Villain that he is!" exclaimed he, "I
+shall teach him to behave in such a manner to a child of mine, be she
+as she may; since I cannot get at himself, I shall lounder her that is
+nearest to him in life. Take you that, and that, Mrs. Colwan, for your
+husband's impertinence!"
+
+The poor afflicted woman wept and prayed, but the baillie would not
+abate aught of his severity. After fuming and beating her with many
+stripes, far drawn, and lightly laid down, he took her up to her
+chamber, five stories high, locked her in, and there he fed her on
+bread and water, all to be revenged on the presumptuous Laird of
+Dalcastle; but ever and anon, as the baillie came down the stair from
+carrying his daughter's meal, he said to himself: "I shall make the
+sight of the laird the blithest she ever saw in her life."
+
+Lady Dalcastle got plenty of time to read, and pray, and meditate; but
+she was at a great loss for one to dispute with about religious tenets;
+for she found that, without this advantage, about which there was a
+perfect rage at that time, the reading and learning of Scripture texts,
+and sentences of intricate doctrine, availed her naught; so she was
+often driven to sit at her casement and look out for the approach of
+the heathenish Laird of Dalcastle.
+
+That hero, after a considerable lapse of time, at length made his
+appearance. Matters were not hard to adjust; for his lady found that
+there was no refuge for her in her father's house; and so, after some
+sighs and tears, she accompanied her husband home. For all that had
+passed, things went on no better. She WOULD convert the laird in spite
+of his teeth: the laird would not be converted. She WOULD have the
+laird to say family prayers, both morning and evening: the laird would
+neither pray morning nor evening. He would not even sing psalms, and
+kneel beside her while she performed the exercise; neither would he
+converse at all times, and in all places, about the sacred mysteries of
+religion, although his lady took occasion to contradict flatly every
+assertion that he made, in order that she might spiritualize him by
+drawing him into argument.
+
+The laird kept his temper a long while, but at length his patience wore
+out; he cut her short in all her futile attempts at spiritualization,
+and mocked at her wire-drawn degrees of faith, hope, and repentance. He
+also dared to doubt of the great standard doctrine of absolute
+predestination, which put the crown on the lady's Christian resentment.
+She declared her helpmate to be a limb of Antichrist, and one with whom
+no regenerated person could associate. She therefore bespoke a separate
+establishment, and, before the expiry of the first six months, the
+arrangements of the separation were amicably adjusted. The upper, or
+third, story of the old mansion-house was awarded to the lady for her
+residence. She had a separate door, a separate stair, a separate
+garden, and walks that in no instance intersected the laird's; so that
+one would have thought the separation complete. They had each their own
+parties, selected from their own sort of people; and, though the laird
+never once chafed himself about the lady's companies, it was not long
+before she began to intermeddle about some of his.
+
+"Who is that fat bouncing dame that visits the laird so often, and
+always by herself?" said she to her maid Martha one day.
+
+"Oh dear, mem, how can I ken? We're banished frae our acquaintances
+here, as weel as frae the sweet gospel ordinances."
+
+"Find me out who that jolly dame is, Martha. You, who hold communion
+with the household of this ungodly man, can be at no loss to attain
+this information. I observe that she always casts her eye up toward our
+windows, both in coming and going; and I suspect that she seldom
+departs from the house emptyhanded."
+
+That same evening Martha came with the information that this august
+visitor was a Miss Logan, an old an intimate acquaintance of the
+laird's, and a very worthy respectable lady, of good connections, whose
+parents had lost their patrimony in the civil wars.
+
+"Ha! very well!" said the lady; "very well, Martha! But, nevertheless,
+go thou and watch this respectable lady's motions and behaviour the
+next time she comes to visit the laird--and the next after that. You
+will not, I see, lack opportunities."
+
+Martha's information turned out of that nature that prayers were said
+in the uppermost story of Dalcastle house against the Canaanitish
+woman, every night and every morning; and great discontent prevailed
+there, even to anathemas and tears. Letter after letter was dispatched
+to Glasgow; and at length, to the lady's great consolation, the Rev.
+Mr. Wringhim arrived safely and devoutly in her elevated sanctuary.
+Marvellous was the conversation between these gifted people. Wringhim
+had held in his doctrines that there were eight different kinds of
+FAITH, all perfectly distinct in their operations and effects. But the
+lady, in her secluded state, had discovered another five, making twelve
+[sic] in all: the adjusting of the existence or fallacy of these five
+faiths served for a most enlightened discussion of nearly seventeen
+hours; in the course of which the two got warm in their arguments,
+always in proportion as they receded from nature, utility, and common
+sense. Wringhim at length got into unwonted fervour about some disputed
+point between one of these faiths and TRUST: when the lady, fearing
+that zeal was getting beyond its wonted barrier, broke in on his
+vehement asseverations with the following abrupt discomfiture: "But,
+Sir, as long as I remember, what is to be done with this case of open
+and avowed iniquity?"
+
+The minister was struck dumb. He leaned him back on his chair, stroked
+his beard, hemmed--considered, and hemmed again, and then said, in an
+altered and softened tone: "Why, that is a secondary consideration; you
+mean the case between your husband and Miss Logan?"
+
+"The same, Sir. I am scandalized at such intimacies going on under my
+nose. The sufferance of it is a great and crying evil."
+
+"Evil, madam, may be either operative, or passive. To them it is an
+evil, but to us none. We have no more to do with the sins of the wicked
+and unconverted here than with those of an infidel Turk; for all
+earthly bonds and fellowships are absorbed and swallowed up in the holy
+community of the Reformed Church. However, if it is your wish, I shall
+take him to task, and reprimand and humble him in such a manner that he
+shall be ashamed of his doings, and renounce such deeds for ever, out
+of mere self-respect, though all unsanctified the heart, as well as the
+deed, may be. To the wicked, all things are wicked; but to the just,
+all things are just and right."
+
+"Ah, that is a sweet and comfortable saying, Mr. Wringhim! How
+delightful to think that a justified person can do no wrong! Who would
+not envy the liberty wherewith we are made free? Go to my husband, that
+poor unfortunate, blindfolded person, and open his eyes to his
+degenerate and sinful state; for well are you fitted to the task."
+
+"Yea, I will go in unto him, and confound him. I will lay the strong
+holds of sin and Satan as flat before my face as the dung that is
+spread out to fatten the land."
+
+"Master, there's a gentleman at the fore-door wants a private word o'
+ye."
+
+"Tell him I'm engaged: I can't see any gentleman to-night. But I shall
+attend on him to-morrow as soon as he pleases."
+
+"'He's coming straight in, Sir. Stop a wee bit, Sir, my master is
+engaged. He cannot see you at present, Sir."
+
+"Stand aside, thou Moabite! My mission admits of no delay. I come to
+save him from the jaws of destruction!"
+
+"An that be the case, Sir, it maks a wide difference; an', as the
+danger may threaten us a', I fancy I may as weel let ye gang by as
+fight wi' ye, sin' ye seem sae intent on 't.--The man says he's comin'
+to save ye, an' canna stop, Sir. Here he is."
+
+The laird was going to break out into a volley of wrath against Waters,
+his servant; but, before he got a word pronounced, the Rev. Mr.
+Wringhim had stepped inside the room, and Waters had retired, shutting
+the door behind him.
+
+No introduction could be more mal-a-propos: it was impossible; for at
+that very moment the laird and Arabella Logan were both sitting on one
+seat, and both looking on one book, when the door opened. "What is it,
+Sir?" said the laird fiercely.
+
+"A message of the greatest importance, Sir," said the divine, striding
+unceremoniously up to the chimney, turning his back to the fire, and
+his face to the culprits. "I think you should know me, Sir?" continued
+he, looking displeasedly at the laird, with his face half turned round.
+
+"I think I should," returned the laird. "You are a Mr.
+How's--tey--ca'--him, of Glasgow, who did me the worst turn ever I got
+done to me in my life. You gentry are always ready to do a man such a
+turn. Pray, Sir, did you ever do a good job for anyone to
+counterbalance that? For, if you have not, you ought to be--"
+
+"Hold, Sir, I say! None of your profanity before me. If I do evil to
+anyone on such occasions, it is because he will have it so; therefore,
+the evil is not of my doing. I ask you, Sir, before God and this
+witness, I ask you, have you kept solemnly and inviolate the vows which
+I laid upon you that day? Answer me!"
+
+"Has the partner whom you bound me to kept hers inviolate? Answer me
+that, Sir! None can better do so than you, Mr. How's--tey--ca'--you."
+
+"So, then, you confess your backslidings, and avow the profligacy of
+your life. And this person here is, I suppose, the partner of your
+iniquity--she whose beauty hath caused you to err! Stand up, both of
+you, till I rebuke you, and show you what you are in the eyes of God
+and man."
+
+"In the first place, stand you still there, till I tell you what you
+are in the eyes of God and man. You are, Sir, a presumptuous,
+self-conceited pedagogue, a stirrer up of strife and commotion in
+church, in state, in families, and communities. You are one, Sir, whose
+righteousness consists in splitting the doctrines of Calvin into
+thousands of undistinguishable films, and in setting up a system of
+justifying-grace against all breaches of all laws, moral or divine. In
+short, Sir, you are a mildew--a canker-worm in the bosom of the
+Reformed Church, generating a disease of which she will never be
+purged, but by the shedding of blood. Go thou in peace, and do these
+abominations no more; but humble thyself, lest a worse reproof come
+upon thee."
+
+Wringhim heard all this without flinching. He now and then twisted his
+mouth in disdain, treasuring up, meantime, his vengeance against the
+two aggressors; for he felt that he had them on the hip, and resolved
+to pour out his vengeance and indignation upon them. Sorry am I that
+the shackles of modern decorum restrain me from penning that famous
+rebuke; fragments of which have been attributed to every divine of old
+notoriety throughout Scotland. But I have it by heart; and a glorious
+morsel it is to put into the hands of certain incendiaries. The
+metaphors are so strong and so appalling that Miss Logan could only
+stand them a very short time; she was obliged to withdraw in confusion.
+The laird stood his ground with much ado, though his face was often
+crimsoned over with the hues of shame and anger. Several times he was
+on the point of turning the officious sycophant to the door; but good
+manners, and an inherent respect that lie entertained for the clergy,
+as the immediate servants of the Supreme Being, restrained him.
+
+Wringhim, perceiving these symptoms of resentment, took them for marks
+of shame and contrition, and pushed his reproaches farther than ever
+divine ventured to do in a similar case. When he had finished, to
+prevent further discussion, he walked slowly and majestically out of
+the apartment, making his robes to swing behind him in a most
+magisterial manner; he being, without doubt, elated with his high
+conquest. He went to the upper story, and related to his metaphysical
+associate his wonderful success; how he had driven the dame from the
+house in tears and deep confusion, and left the backsliding laird in
+such a quandary of shame and repentance that he could neither
+articulate a word nor lift up his countenance. The dame thanked him
+most cordially, lauding his friendly zeal and powerful eloquence; and
+then the two again set keenly to the splitting of hairs, and making
+distinctions in religion where none existed.
+
+They being both children of adoption, and secured from falling into
+snares, or anyway under the power of the wicked one, it was their
+custom, on each visit, to sit up a night in the same apartment, for the
+sake of sweet spiritual converse; but that time, in the course of the
+night, they differed so materially on a small point somewhere between
+justification and final election that the minister, in the heat of his
+zeal, sprung from his seat, paced the floor, and maintained his point
+with such ardour that Martha was alarmed, and, thinking they were going
+to fight, and that the minister would be a hard match for her mistress,
+she put on some clothes, and twice left her bed and stood listening at
+the back of the door, ready to burst in should need require it. Should
+anyone think this picture over-strained, I can assure him that it is
+taken from nature and from truth; but I will not likewise aver that the
+theologist was neither crazed nor inebriated. If the listener's words
+were to be relied on, there was no love, no accommodating principle
+manifested between the two, but a fiery burning zeal, relating to
+points of such minor importance that a true Christian would blush to
+hear them mentioned, and the infidel and profane make a handle of them
+to turn our religion to scorn.
+
+Great was the dame's exultation at the triumph of her beloved pastor
+over her sinful neighbours in the lower parts of the house; and she
+boasted of it to Martha in high-sounding terms. But it was of short
+duration; for, in five weeks after that, Arabella Logan came to reside
+with the laird as his housekeeper, sitting at his table and carrying
+the keys as mistress-substitute of the mansion. The lady's grief and
+indignation were now raised to a higher pitch than ever; and she set
+every agent to work, with whom she had any power, to effect a
+separation between these two suspected ones. Remonstrance was of no
+avail: George laughed at them who tried such a course, and retained his
+housekeeper, while the lady gave herself up to utter despair; for,
+though she would not consort with her husband herself, she could not
+endure that any other should do so.
+
+But, to countervail this grievous offence, our saintly and afflicted
+dame, in due time, was safely delivered of a fine boy whom the laird
+acknowledged as his son and heir, and had him christened by his own
+name, and nursed in his own premises. He gave the nurse permission to
+take the boy to his mother's presence if ever she should desire to see
+him; but, strange as it may appear, she never once desired to see him
+from the day that he was born. The boy grew up, and was a healthful and
+happy child; and, in the course of another year, the lady presented him
+with a brother. A brother he certainly was, in the eye of the law, and
+it is more than probable that he was his brother in reality. But the
+laird thought otherwise; and, though he knew and acknowledged that he
+was obliged to support and provide for him, he refused to acknowledge
+him in other respects. He neither would countenance the banquet nor
+take the baptismal vows on him in the child's name; of course, the poor
+boy had to live and remain an alien from the visible church for a year
+and a day; at which time, Mr. Wringhim out of pity and kindness, took
+the lady herself as sponsor for the boy, and baptized him by the name
+of Robert Wringhim--that being the noted divine's own name.
+
+George was brought up with his father, and educated partly at the
+parish school, and partly at home, by a tutor hired for the purpose. He
+was a generous and kind-hearted youth; always ready to oblige, and
+hardly ever dissatisfied with anybody. Robert was brought up with Mr.
+Wringhim, the laird paying a certain allowance for him yearly; and
+there the boy was early inured to all the sternness and severity of his
+pastor's arbitrary and unyielding creed. He was taught to pray twice
+every day, and seven times on Sabbath days; but he was only to pray for
+the elect, and, like Devil of old, doom all that were aliens from God
+to destruction. He had never, in that family into which he had been as
+it were adopted, heard aught but evil spoken of his reputed father and
+brother; consequently he held them in utter abhorrence, and prayed
+against them every day, often "that the old hoary sinner might be cut
+off in the full flush of his iniquity, and be carried quick into hell;
+and that the young stem of the corrupt trunk might also be taken from a
+world that he disgraced, but that his sins might be pardoned, because
+he knew no better."
+
+Such were the tenets in which it would appear young Robert was bred. He
+was an acute boy, an excellent learner, had ardent and ungovernable
+passions, and, withal, a sternness of demeanour from which other boys
+shrunk. He was the best grammarian, the best reader, writer, and
+accountant in the various classes that he attended, and was fond of
+writing essays on controverted points of theology, for which he got
+prizes, and great praise from his guardian and mother. George was much
+behind him in scholastic acquirements, but greatly his superior in
+personal prowess, form, feature, and all that constitutes gentility in
+the deportment and appearance. The laird had often manifested to Miss
+Logan an earnest wish that the two young men should never meet, or at
+all events that they should be as little conversant as possible; and
+Miss Logan, who was as much attached to George as if he had been her
+own son, took every precaution, while he was a boy, that he should
+never meet with his brother; but, as they advanced towards manhood,
+this became impracticable. The lady was removed from her apartments in
+her husband's house to Glasgow, to her great content; and all to
+prevent the young laird being tainted with the company of her and her
+second son; for the laird had felt the effects of the principles they
+professed, and dreaded them more than persecution, fire, and sword.
+During all the dreadful times that had overpast, though the laird had
+been a moderate man, he had still leaned to the side of kingly
+prerogative, and had escaped confiscation and fines, without ever
+taking any active hand in suppressing the Covenanters. But, after
+experiencing a specimen of their tenets and manner in his wife, from a
+secret favourer of them and their doctrines, he grew alarmed at the
+prevalence of such stern and factious principles, now that there was no
+check or restraint upon them; and from that time he began to set
+himself against them, joining with the Cavalier party of that day in
+all their proceedings.
+
+It so happened that, under the influence of the Earls of Seafield and
+Tullibardine, he was returned for a Member of Parliament in the famous
+session that sat at Edinburgh when the Duke of Queensberry was
+commissioner, and in which party spirit ran to such an extremity. The
+young laird went with his father to the court, and remained in town all
+the time that the session lasted; and, as all interested people of both
+factions flocked to the town at that period, so the important Mr.
+Wringhim was there among the rest, during the greater part of the time,
+blowing the coal of revolutionary principles with all his might, in
+every society to which he could obtain admission. He was a great
+favourite with some of the west country gentlemen of that faction, by
+reason of his unbending impudence. No opposition could for a moment
+cause him either to blush, or retract one item that he had advanced.
+Therefore the Duke of Argyle and his friends made such use of him as
+sportsmen often do of terriers, to start the game, and make a great
+yelping noise to let them know whither the chase is proceeding. They
+often did this out of sport, in order to tease their opponent; for of
+all pesterers that ever fastened on man he was the most insufferable:
+knowing that his coat protected him from manual chastisement, he spared
+no acrimony, and delighted in the chagrin and anger of those with whom
+he contended. But he was sometimes likewise of real use to the heads of
+the Presbyterian faction, and therefore was admitted to their tables,
+and of course conceived himself a very great man.
+
+His ward accompanied him; and, very shortly after their arrival in
+Edinburgh, Robert, for the first time, met with the young laird his
+brother, in a match at tennis. The prowess and agility of the young
+squire drew forth the loudest plaudits of approval from his associates,
+and his own exertion alone carried the game every time on the one side,
+and that so far as all I along to count three for their one. The hero's
+name soon ran round the circle, and when his brother Robert, who was an
+onlooker, learned who it was that was gaining so much applause, he came
+and stood close beside him all the time that the game lasted, always
+now and then putting in a cutting remark by way of mockery.
+
+George could not help perceiving him, not only on account of his
+impertinent remarks, but he, moreover, stood so near him that he
+several times impeded him in his rapid evolutions, and of course got
+himself shoved aside in no very ceremonious way. Instead of making him
+keep his distance, these rude shocks and pushes, accompanied sometimes
+with hasty curses, only made him cling the closer to this king of the
+game. He seemed determined to maintain his right to his place as an
+onlooker, as well as any of those engaged in the game, and, if they had
+tried him at an argument, he would have carried his point; or perhaps
+he wished to quarrel with this spark of his jealousy and aversion, and
+draw the attention of the gay crowd to himself by these means; for,
+like his guardian, he knew no other pleasure but what consisted in
+opposition. George took him for some impertinent student of divinity,
+rather set upon a joke than anything else. He perceived a lad with
+black clothes, and a methodistical face, whose countenance and eye he
+disliked exceedingly, several times in his way, and that was all the
+notice he took of him the first time they two met. But the next day,
+and every succeeding one, the same devilish-looking youth attended him
+as constantly as his shadow; was always in his way as with intention to
+impede him and ever and anon his deep and malignant eye met those of
+his elder brother with a glance so fierce that it sometimes startled
+him.
+
+The very next time that George was engaged at tennis, he had not struck
+the ball above twice till the same intrusive being was again in his
+way. The party played for considerable stakes that day, namely, a
+dinner and wine at the Black Bull tavern; and George, as the hero and
+head of his party, was much interested in its honour; consequently the
+sight of this moody and hellish-looking student affected him in no very
+pleasant manner. "Pray Sir, be so good as keep without the range of the
+ball," said he.
+
+"Is there any law or enactment that can compel me to do so?" said the
+other, biting his lip with scorn.
+
+"If there is not, they are here that shall compel you," returned
+George. "So, friend, I rede you to be on your guard."
+
+As he said this, a flush of anger glowed in his handsome face and
+flashed from his sparkling blue eye; but it was a stranger to both, and
+momently took its departure. The black-coated youth set up his cap
+before, brought his heavy brows over his deep dark eyes, put his hands
+in the pockets of his black plush breeches, and stepped a little
+farther into the semicircle, immediately on his brother's right hand,
+than he had ever ventured to do before. There he set himself firm on
+his legs, and, with a face as demure as death, seemed determined to
+keep his ground. He pretended to be following the ball with his eyes;
+but every moment they were glancing aside at George. One of the
+competitors chanced to say rashly, in the moment of exultation, "That's
+a d--d fine blow, George!" On which the intruder took up the word, as
+characteristic of the competitors, and repeated it every stroke that
+was given, making such a ludicrous use of it that several of the
+onlookers were compelled to laugh immoderately; but the players were
+terribly nettled at it, as he really contrived, by dint of sliding in
+some canonical terms, to render the competitors and their game
+ridiculous.
+
+But matters at length came to a crisis that put them beyond sport.
+George, in flying backward to gain the point at which the ball was
+going to light, came inadvertently so rudely in contact with this
+obstreperous interloper that lie not only overthrew him, but also got a
+grievous fall over his legs; and, as he arose, the other made a spurn
+at him with his foot, which, if it had hit to its aim, would
+undoubtedly have finished the course of the young laird of Dalcastle
+and Balgrennan. George, being irritated beyond measure, as may well be
+conceived, especially at the deadly stroke aimed at him, struck the
+assailant with his racket, rather slightly, but so that his mouth and
+nose gushed out blood; and, at the same time, he said, turning to his
+cronies: "Does any of you know who the infernal puppy is?"
+
+"Do you know, Sir?" said one of the onlookers, a stranger, "the
+gentleman is your own brother, Sir--Mr. Robert Wringhim Colwan!"
+
+"No, not Colwan, Sir," said Robert, putting his hands in his pockets,
+and setting himself still farther forward than before, "not a Colwan,
+Sir; henceforth I disclaim the name."
+
+"No, certainly not," repeated George. "My mother's son you may be--but
+not a Colwan! There you are right." Then, turning around to his
+informer, he said: "Mercy be about us, Sir! Is this the crazy
+minister's son from Glasgow?"
+
+This question was put in the irritation of the moment, but it was too
+rude, and far too out of place, and no one deigned any answer to it. He
+felt the reproof, and felt it deeply; seeming anxious for some
+opportunity to make an acknowledgment, or some reparation.
+
+In the meantime, young Wringhim was an object to all of the uttermost
+disgust. The blood flowing from his mouth and nose he took no pains to
+stem, neither did he so much as wipe it away; so that it spread over
+all his cheeks, and breast, even off at his toes. In that state did he
+take up his station in the middle of the competitors; and he did not
+now keep his place, but ran about, impeding everyone who attempted to
+make at the ball. They loaded him with execrations, but it availed
+nothing; he seemed courting persecution and buffetings, keeping
+steadfastly to his old joke of damnation, and marring the game so
+completely that, in spite of every effort on the part of the players,
+he forced them to stop their game and give it up. He was such a
+rueful-looking object, covered with blood, that none of them had the
+heart to kick him, although it appeared the only thing he wanted; and,
+as for George, he said not another word to him, either in anger or
+reproof.
+
+When the game was fairly given up, and the party were washing their
+hands in the stone fount, some of them besought Robert Wringhim to wash
+himself; but he mocked at them, and said he was much better as he was.
+George, at length, came forward abashedly towards him, and said: "I
+have been greatly to blame, Robert, and am very sorry for what I have
+done. But, in the first instance, I erred through ignorance, not
+knowing you were my brother, which you certainly are; and, in the
+second, through a momentary irritation, for which I am ashamed. I pray
+you, therefore, to pardon me, and give me your hand."
+
+As he said this, he held out his hand towards his polluted brother; but
+the froward predestinarian took not his from his breeches pocket, but
+lifting his foot, he gave his brother's hand a kick. "I'll give you
+what will suit such a hand better than mine," said he, with a sneer.
+And then, turning lightly about, he added: "Are there to be no more of
+these d---d fine blows, gentlemen? For shame, to give up such a
+profitable and edifying game!"
+
+"This is too bad," said George. "But, since it is thus, I have the less
+to regret." And, having made this general remark, he took no more note
+of the uncouth aggressor. But the persecution of the latter terminated
+not on the play-ground: he ranked up among them, bloody and disgusting
+as he was, and, keeping close by his brother's side, he marched along
+with the party all the way to the Black Bull. Before they got there, a
+great number of boys and idle people had surrounded them, hooting and
+incommoding them exceedingly, so that they were glad to get into the
+inn; and the unaccountable monster actually tried to get in alongst
+with them, to make one of the party at dinner. But the innkeeper and
+his men, getting the hint, by force prevented him from entering,
+although he attempted it again and again, both by telling lies and
+offering a bribe. Finding he could not prevail, he set to exciting the
+mob at the door to acts of violence; in which he had like to have
+succeeded. The landlord had no other shift, at last, but to send
+privately for two officers, and have him carried to the guard-house;
+and the hilarity and joy of the party of young gentlemen, for the
+evening, was quite spoiled by the inauspicious termination of their
+game.
+
+The Rev. Robert Wringhim was now to send for, to release his beloved
+ward. The messenger found him at table, with a number of the leaders of
+the Whig faction, the Marquis of Annandale being in the chair; and, the
+prisoner's note being produced, Wringhim read it aloud, accompanying it
+with some explanatory remarks. The circumstances of the case being thus
+magnified and distorted, it excited the utmost abhorrence, both of the
+deed and the perpetrators, among the assembled faction. They declaimed
+against the act as an unnatural attempt on the character, and even the
+life, of an unfortunate brother, who had been expelled from his
+father's house. And, as party spirit was the order of the day, an
+attempt was made to lay the burden of it to that account. In short, the
+young culprit got some of the best blood of the land to enter as his
+securities, and was set at liberty. But, when Wringhim perceived the
+plight that he was in, he took him, as he was, and presented him to his
+honourable patrons. This raised the indignation against the young laird
+and his associates a thousand-fold, which actually roused the party to
+temporary madness. They were, perhaps, a little excited by the wine and
+spirits they had swallowed; else a casual quarrel between two young
+men, at tennis, could not have driven them to such extremes. But
+certain it is that, from one at first arising to address the party on
+the atrocity of the offence, both in a moral and political point of
+view, on a sudden there were six on their feet, at the same time,
+expatiating on it; and, in a very short time thereafter, everyone in
+the room was up talking with the utmost vociferation, all on the same
+subject, and all taking the same side in the debate.
+
+In the midst of this confusion, someone or other issued from the house,
+which was at the back of the Canongate, calling out: "A plot, a plot!
+Treason, treason! Down with the bloody incendiaries at the Black Bull!"
+
+The concourse of people that were assembled in Edinburgh at that time
+was prodigious; and, as they were all actuated by political motives,
+they wanted only a ready-blown coal to set the mountain on fire. The
+evening being fine, and the streets thronged, the cry ran from mouth to
+mouth through the whole city. More than that, the mob that had of late
+been gathered to the door of the Black Bull had, by degrees, dispersed;
+but, they being young men, and idle vagrants, they had only spread
+themselves over the rest of the street to lounge in search of further
+amusement: consequently, a word was sufficient to send them back to
+their late rendezvous, where they had previously witnessed something
+they did not much approve of.
+
+The master of the tavern was astonished at seeing the mob again
+assembling; and that with such hurry and noise. But, his inmates being
+all of the highest respectability, he judged himself sure of
+protection, or at least of indemnity. He had two large parties in his
+house at the time; the largest of which was of the Revolutionist
+faction. The other consisted of our young Tennis-players, and their
+associates, who were all of the Jacobite order; or, at all events,
+leaned to the Episcopal side. The largest party were in a front room;
+and the attack of the mob fell first on their windows, though rather
+with fear and caution. Jingle went one pane; then a loud hurrah; and
+that again was followed by a number of voices, endeavouring to restrain
+the indignation from venting itself in destroying the windows, and to
+turn it on the inmates. The Whigs, calling the landlord, inquired what
+the assault meant: he cunningly answered that he suspected it was some
+of the youths of the Cavalier, or High-Church party, exciting the mob
+against them. The party consisted mostly of young gentlemen, by that
+time in a key to engage in any row; and, at all events, to suffer
+nothing from the other party, against whom their passions were mightily
+inflamed.
+
+The landlord, therefore, had no sooner given them the spirit-rousing
+intelligence than everyone, as by instinct, swore his own natural oath,
+and grasped his own natural weapon. A few of those of the highest rank
+were armed with swords, which they boldly drew; those of the
+subordinate orders immediately flew to such weapons as the room,
+kitchen, and scullery afforded--such as tongs, pokers, spits, racks,
+and shovels; and breathing vengeance on the prelatic party, the
+children of Antichrist and the heirs of d--n--t--n! the barterers of
+the liberties of their country, and betrayers of the most sacred
+trust--thus elevated, and thus armed, in the cause of right, justice,
+and liberty, our heroes rushed to the street, and attacked the mob with
+such violence that they broke the mass in a moment, and dispersed their
+thousands like chaff before the wind. The other party of young
+Jacobites, who sat in a room farther from the front, and were those
+against whom the fury of the mob was meant to have been directed, knew
+nothing of this second uproar, till the noise of the sally made by the
+Whigs assailed their ears; being then informed that the mob had
+attacked the house on account of the treatment they themselves had
+given to a young gentleman of the adverse faction, and that another
+jovial party had issued from the house in their defence, and was now
+engaged in an unequal combat, the sparks likewise flew, to the field to
+back their defenders with all their prowess, without troubling their
+heads about who they were.
+
+A mob is like a spring tide in an eastern storm, that retires only to
+return with more overwhelming fury. The crowd was taken by surprise
+when such a strong and well-armed party issued from the house with so
+great fury, laying all prostrate that came in their way. Those who were
+next to the door, and were, of course, the first whom the imminent
+danger assailed, rushed backwards among the crowd with their whole
+force. The Black Bull standing in a small square half-way between the
+High Street and the Cowgate, and the entrance to it being by two
+closes, into these the pressure outwards was simultaneous, and
+thousands were moved to an involuntary flight, they knew not why.
+
+But the High Street of Edinburgh, which they soon reached, is a
+dangerous place in which to make an open attack upon a mob. And it
+appears that the entrances to the tavern had been somewhere near to the
+Cross, on the south side of the street; for the crowd fled with great
+expedition, both to the cast and west, and the conquerors, separating
+themselves as chance directed, pursued impetuously, wounding and
+maiming as they flew. But it so chanced that, before either of the
+wings had followed the flying squadrons of their enemies for the space
+of a hundred yards each way, the devil an enemy they had to pursue! the
+multitude had vanished like so many thousands of phantoms! What could
+our heroes do? Why, they faced about to return towards their citadel,
+the Black Bull. But that feat was not so easily, nor so readily
+accomplished as they divined. The unnumbered alleys on each side of the
+street had swallowed up the multitude in a few seconds; but from these
+they were busy reconnoitring; and  perceiving the deficiency in the
+number of their assailants, the rush from both sides of the street was
+as rapid, and as wonderful, as the disappearance of the crowd had been
+a few minutes before. Each close vomited out its levies, and these
+better armed with missiles than when they sought it for a temporary
+retreat. Woe then to our two columns of victorious Whigs! The mob
+actually closed around them as they would have swallowed them up; and,
+in the meanwhile, shower after shower of the most abominable weapons of
+offence were rained in upon them. If the gentlemen were irritated
+before, this inflamed them still further; but their danger was now so
+apparent they could not shut their eyes on it; therefore, both parties,
+as if actuated by the same spirit, made a desperate effort to join, and
+the greater part effected it; but some were knocked down, and others
+were separated from their friends, and blithe to become silent members
+of the mob.
+
+The battle now raged immediately in front of the closes leading to the
+Black Bull; the small body of Whig gentlemen was hardly bested, and it
+is likely would have been overcome and trampled down every man, had
+they not been then and there joined by the young Cavaliers; who, fresh
+to arms, broke from the wynd, opened the head of the passage, laid
+about them manfully, and thus kept up the spirits of the exasperated
+Whigs, who were the men in fact that wrought the most deray among the
+populace.
+
+The town-guard was now on the alert; and two companies of the
+Cameronian Regiment, with the Hon. Captain Douglas, rushed down from
+the Castle to the scene of action; but, for all the noise and hubbub
+that these caused in the street, the combat had become so close and
+inveterate that numbers of both sides were taken prisoners fighting
+hand to hand, and could scarcely be separated when the guardsmen and
+soldiers had them by the necks.
+
+Great was the alarm and confusion that night in Edinburgh; for everyone
+concluded that it was a party scuffle, and, the two parties being so
+equal in power, the most serious consequences were anticipated. The
+agitation was so prevailing that every party in town, great and small,
+was broken up; and the lord-commissioner thought proper to go to the
+Council Chamber himself, even at that late hour, accompanied by the
+sheriffs of Edinburgh and Linlithgow, with sundry noblemen besides, in
+order to learn something of the origin of the affray.
+
+For a long time the court was completely puzzled. Every gentleman
+brought in exclaimed against the treatment he had received, in most
+bitter terms, blaming a mob set on him and his friends by the adverse
+party, and matters looked extremely ill until at length they began to
+perceive that they were examining gentlemen of both parties, and that
+they had been doing so from the beginning, almost alternately, so
+equally had the prisoners been taken from both parties. Finally, it
+turned out that a few gentlemen, two-thirds of whom were strenuous
+Whigs themselves, had joined in mauling the whole Whig population of
+Edinburgh. The investigation disclosed nothing the effect of which was
+not ludicrous; and the Duke of Queensberry, whose aim was at that time
+to conciliate the two factions, tried all that he could to turn the
+whole fracas into a joke--an unlucky frolic, where no ill was meant on
+either side, and which yet had been productive of a great deal.
+
+The greater part of the people went home satisfied; but not so the Rev.
+Robert Wringhim. He did all that he could to inflame both judges and
+populace against the young Cavaliers, especially against the young
+Laird of Dalcastle, whom he represented as an incendiary, set on by an
+unnatural parent to slander his mother, and make away with a hapless
+and only brother; and, in truth, that declaimer against all human merit
+had that sort of powerful, homely, and bitter eloquence which seldom
+missed affecting his hearers: the consequence at that time was that he
+made the unfortunate affair between the two brothers appear in
+extremely bad colours, and the populace retired to their homes
+impressed with no very favourable opinion of either the Laird of
+Dalcastle or his son George, neither of whom were there present to
+speak for themselves.
+
+As for Wringhim himself, he went home to his lodgings, filled with gall
+and with spite against the young laird, whom he was made to believe the
+aggressor, and that intentionally. But most of all he was filled with
+indignation against the father, whom he held in abhorrence at all
+times, and blamed solely for this unmannerly attack made on his
+favourite ward, namesake, and adopted son; and for the public
+imputation of a crime to his own reverence in calling the lad his son,
+and thus charging him with a sin against which he was well known to
+have levelled all the arrows of church censure with unsparing might.
+
+But, filled as his heart was with some portion of these bad feelings,
+to which all flesh is subject, he kept, nevertheless, the fear of the
+Lord always before his eyes so far as never to omit any of the external
+duties of religion, and farther than that man hath no power to pry. He
+lodged with the family of a Mr. Miller, whose lady was originally from
+Glasgow, and had been a hearer and, of course, a great admirer of Mr.
+Wringhim. In that family he made public worship every evening; and that
+night, in his petitions at a throne of grace, he prayed for so many
+vials of wrath to be poured on the head of some particular sinner that
+the hearers trembled, and stopped their ears. But that he might not
+proceed with so violent a measure, amounting to excommunication,
+without due scripture warrant, he began the exercise of the evening by
+singing the following verses, which it is a pity should ever have been
+admitted into a Christian psalmody, being so adverse to all its mild
+and benevolent principles:
+
+
+  Set thou the wicked over him,
+  And upon his right hand
+  Give thou his greatest enemy,
+  Even Satan, leave to stand.
+
+  And, when by thee he shall be judged,
+  Let him remembered be;
+  And let his prayer be turned to sin
+  When he shall call on thee.
+
+  Few be his days; and in his room
+  His charge another take;
+  His children let be fatherless;
+  His wife a widow make:
+
+  Let God his father's wickedness
+  Still to remembrance call;
+  And never let his mother's sin
+  Be blotted out at all.
+
+  As he in cursing pleasure took
+  So let it to him fall;
+  As he delighted not to bless,
+  So bless him not at all.
+
+  As cursing he like clothes put on,
+  Into his bowels so,
+  Like water, and into his bones
+  Like oil, down let it go.
+
+
+Young Wringhim only knew the full purport of this spiritual song; and
+went to his bed better satisfied than ever that his father and brother
+were castaways, reprobates, aliens from the Church and the true faith,
+and cursed in time and eternity.
+
+The next day George and his companions met as usual--all who were not
+seriously wounded of them. But, as they strolled about the city, the
+rancorous eye and the finger of scorn was pointed against them. None of
+them was at first aware of the reason; but it threw a damp over their
+spirits and enjoyments, which they could not master. They went to take
+a forenoon game at their old play of tennis, not on a match, but by way
+of improving themselves; but they had not well taken their places till
+young Wringhim appeared in his old station, at his brother's right
+hand, with looks more demure and determined than ever. His lips were
+primmed so close that his mouth was hardly discernible, and his dark
+deep eye flashed gleams of holy indignation on the godless set, but
+particularly on his brother. His presence acted as a mildew on all
+social intercourse or enjoyment; the game was marred, and ended ere
+ever it was well begun. There were whisperings apart--the party
+separated, and, in order to shake off the blighting influence of this
+dogged persecutor, they entered sundry houses of their acquaintances,
+with an understanding that they were to meet on the Links for a game at
+cricket.
+
+They did so; and, stripping off part of their clothes, they began that
+violent and spirited game. They had not played five minutes till
+Wringhim was stalking in the midst of them, and totally impeding the
+play. A cry arose from all corners of: "Oh, this will never do. Kick
+him out of the play-ground! Knock down the scoundrel; or bind him, and
+let him lie in peace."
+
+"By no means," cried George. "It is evident he wants nothing else. Pray
+do not humour him so much as to touch him with either foot or finger."
+Then, turning to a friend, he said in a whisper: "Speak to him, Gordon;
+he surely will not refuse to let us have the ground to ourselves, if
+you request it of him."
+
+Gordon went up to him, and requested of him, civilly, but ardently, "to
+retire to a certain distance, else none of them could or would be
+answerable, however sore he might be hurt."
+
+He turned disdainfully on his heel, uttered a kind of pulpit hem! and
+then added, "I will take my chance of that; hurt me, any of you, at
+your peril."
+
+The young gentlemen smiled, through spite and disdain of the dogged
+animal. Gordon followed him up, and tried to remonstrate with him; but
+he let him know that "it was his pleasure to be there at that time;
+and, unless he could demonstrate to him what superior right he and his
+party had to that ground, in preference to him, and to the exclusion of
+all others, he was determined to assert his right, and the rights of
+his fellow-citizens, by keeping possession of whatsoever part of that
+common field he chose."
+
+"You are no gentleman, Sir," said Gordon.
+
+"Are you one, Sir?" said the other.
+
+"Yes, Sir. I will let you know that I am, by G--!"
+
+"Then, thanks be to Him whose name you have profaned, I am none, If one
+of the party be a gentleman, I do hope in God am not!"
+
+It was now apparent to them all that he was courting obloquy and manual
+chastisement from their hands, if  by any means he could provoke them
+to the deed; and, apprehensive that he had some sinister and deep-laid
+design in hunting after such a singular favour, they wisely restrained
+one another from inflicting the punishment that each of them yearned to
+bestow, personally, and which he so well deserved.
+
+But the unpopularity of the younger George Colwan could no longer be
+concealed from his associates. It was manifested wherever the populace
+were assembled; and his young and intimate friend, Adam Gordon, was
+obliged to warn him of the circumstance that he might not be surprised
+at the gentlemen of their acquaintance withdrawing themselves from his
+society, as they could not be seen with him without being insulted.
+George thanked him; and it was agreed between them that the former
+should keep himself retired during the daytime while he remained in
+Edinburgh, and that at night they should meet together, along with such
+of their companions as were disengaged.
+
+George found it every day more and more necessary to adhere to this
+system of seclusion; for it was not alone the hisses of the boys and
+populace that pursued him--a fiend of more malignant aspect was ever at
+his elbow, in the form of his brother. To whatever place of amusement
+he betook himself, and however well he concealed his intentions of
+going there from all flesh living, there was his brother Wringhim also,
+and always within a few yards of him, generally about the same
+distance, and ever and anon darting looks at him that chilled his very
+soul. They were looks that cannot be described; but they were felt
+piercing to the bosom's deepest core. They affected even the onlookers
+in a very particular manner, for all whose eyes caught a glimpse of
+these hideous glances followed them to the object towards which they
+were darted: the gentlemanly and mild demeanour of that object
+generally calmed their startled apprehensions; for no one ever yet
+noted the glances of the young man's eye, in the black coat, at the
+face of his brother, who did not at first manifest strong symptoms of
+alarm.
+
+George became utterly confounded; not only at the import of this
+persecution, but how in the world it came to pass that this
+unaccountable being knew all his motions, and every intention of his
+heart, as it were intuitively. On consulting his own previous feelings
+and resolutions, he found that the circumstances of his going to such
+and such a place were often the most casual incidents in nature--the
+caprice of a moment had carried him there, and yet he had never sat or
+stood many minutes till there was the selfsame being, always in the
+same position with regard to himself, as regularly as the shadow is
+cast from the substance, or the ray of light from the opposing denser
+medium.
+
+For instance, he remembered one day of setting out with the intention
+of going to attend divine worship in the High Church, and when, within
+a short space of its door, he was overtaken by young Kilpatrick of
+Closeburn, who was bound to the Grey-Friars to see his sweetheart, as
+he said: "and if you will go with me, Colwan," said he, "I will let you
+see her too, and then you will be just as far forward as I am."
+
+George assented at once, and went; and, after taking his seat, he
+leaned his head forwards on the pew to repeat over to himself a short
+ejaculatory prayer, as had always been his custom on entering the house
+of God. When he had done, he lifted his eye naturally towards that
+point on his right hand where the fierce apparition of his brother had
+been wont to meet his view: there he was, in the same habit, form,
+demeanour, and precise point of distance, as usual! George again laid
+down his head, and his mind was so astounded that he had nearly fallen
+into a swoon. He tried shortly after to muster up courage to look at
+the speaker, at the congregation, and at Captain Kilpatrick's
+sweetheart in particular; but the fiendish glances of the young man in
+the black clothes were too appalling to be withstood--his eye caught
+them whether he was looking that way or not: at length his courage was
+fairly mastered, and he was obliged to look down during the remainder
+of the service.
+
+By night or by day it was the same. In the gallery of the Parliament
+House, in the boxes of the play-house, in the church, in the assembly,
+in the streets, suburbs, and the fields; and every day, and every hour,
+from the first rencounter of the two, the attendance became more and
+more constant, more inexplicable, and altogether more alarming and
+insufferable, until at last George was fairly driven from society, and
+forced to spend his days in his and his father's lodgings with closed
+doors. Even there, he was constantly harassed with the idea that, the
+next time he lifted his eyes, he would to a certainty see that face,
+the most repulsive to all his feelings of aught the earth contained.
+The attendance of that brother was now become like the attendance of a
+demon on some devoted being that had sold himself to destruction; his
+approaches as undiscerned, and his looks as fraught with hideous
+malignity. It was seldom that he saw him either following him in the
+streets, or entering any house or church after him; he only appeared in
+his place, George wist not how, or whence; and, having sped so ill in
+his first friendly approaches, he had never spoken to his equivocal
+attendant a second time.
+
+It came at length into George's head, as he was pondering, by himself,
+on the circumstances of this extraordinary attendance, that perhaps his
+brother had relented, and, though of so sullen and unaccommodating a
+temper that he would not acknowledge it, or beg a reconciliation, it
+might be for that very purpose that he followed his steps night and day
+in that extraordinary manner. "I cannot for my life see for what other
+purpose it can be," thought he. "He never offers to attempt my life;
+nor dares he, if he had the inclination; therefore, although his manner
+is peculiarly repulsive to me, I shall not have my mind burdened with
+the reflection that my own mother's son yearned for a reconciliation
+with me and was repulsed by my haughty and insolent behaviour. The next
+time he comes to my hand, I am resolved that I will accost him as one
+brother ought to address another, whatever it may cost me; and, if I am
+still flouted with disdain, then shall the blame rest with him."
+
+After this generous resolution, it was a good while before his
+gratuitous attendant appeared at his side again; and George began to
+think that his visits were discontinued. The hope was a relief that
+could not be calculated; but still George had a feeling that it was too
+supreme to last. His enemy had been too pertinacious to abandon his
+design, whatever it was. He, however, began to indulge in a little more
+liberty, and for several days he enjoyed it with impunity.
+
+George was, from infancy, of a stirring active disposition and could
+not endure confinement; and, having been of late much restrained in his
+youthful exercises by this singular persecutor, he grew uneasy under
+such restraint, and, one morning, chancing to awaken very early, he
+arose to make an excursion to the top of Arthur's Seat, to breathe the
+breeze of the dawning, and see the sun arise out of the eastern ocean.
+The morning was calm and serene; and as he walked down the south back
+of the Canongate, towards the Palace, the haze was so close around him
+that he could not see the houses on the opposite side of the way. As he
+passed the Lord-Commissioner's house, the guards were in attendance,
+who cautioned him not to go by the Palace, as all the gates would be
+shut and guarded for an hour to come, on which he went by the back of
+St. Anthony's gardens, and found his way into that little romantic
+glade adjoining to the saint's chapel and well. He was still involved
+in a blue haze, like a dense smoke, but yet in the midst of it the
+respiration was the most refreshing and delicious. The grass and the
+flowers were loaden with dew; and, on taking off his hat to wipe his
+forehead, he perceived that the black glossy fur of which his chaperon
+was wrought was all covered with a tissue of the most delicate
+silver--a fairy web, composed of little spheres, so minute that no eye
+could discern any of them; yet there they were shining in lovely
+millions. Afraid of defacing so beautiful and so delicate a garnish, he
+replaced his hat with the greatest caution, and went on his way light
+of heart.
+
+As he approached the swire at the head of the dell--that little
+delightful verge from which in one moment the eastern limits and shores
+of Lothian arise on the view--as he approached it, I say, and a little
+space from the height, he beheld, to his astonishment, a bright halo in
+the cloud of haze, that rose in a semicircle over his head like a pale
+rainbow. He was struck motionless at the view of the lovely vision; for
+it so chanced that he had never seen the same appearance before, though
+common at early morn. But he soon perceived the cause of the
+phenomenon, and that it proceeded from the rays of the sun from a pure
+unclouded morning sky striking upon this dense vapour which refracted
+them. But, the better all the works of nature are understood, the more
+they will be ever admired. That was a scene that would have entranced
+the man of science with delight, but which the uninitiated and sordid
+man would have regarded less than the mole rearing up his hill in
+silence and in darkness.
+
+George did admire this halo of glory, which still grew wider, and less
+defined, as he approached the surface, of the cloud. But, to his utter
+amazement and supreme delight, he found, on reaching the top of
+Arthur's Seat, that this sublunary rainbow, this terrestrial glory, was
+spread in its most vivid hues beneath his feet. Still he could not
+perceive the body of the sun, although the light behind him was
+dazzling; but the cloud of haze lying dense in that deep dell that
+separates the hill from the rocks of Salisbury, and the dull shadow of
+the hill mingling with that cloud made the dell a pit of darkness. On
+that shadowy cloud was the lovely rainbow formed, spreading itself on a
+horizontal plain, and having a slight and brilliant shade of all the
+colours of the heavenly bow, but all of them paler and less defined.
+But this terrestrial phenomenon of the early morn cannot be better
+delineated than by the name given of it by the shepherd boys, "The
+little wee ghost of the rainbow."
+
+Such was the description of the morning, and the wild shades of the
+hill, that George gave to his father and Mr. Adam Gordon that same day
+on which he had witnessed them; and it is necessary that the reader
+should comprehend something of their nature to understand what follows.
+
+He seated himself on the pinnacle of the rocky precipice, a little
+within the top of the hill to the westward, and, with a light and
+buoyant heart, viewed the beauties of the morning, and inhaled its
+salubrious breeze. "Here," thought he, "I can converse with nature
+without disturbance, and without being intruded on by any appalling or
+obnoxious visitor." The idea of his brother's dark and malevolent looks
+coming at that moment across his mind, he turned his eyes instinctively
+to the right, to the point where that unwelcome guest was wont to make
+his appearance. Gracious Heaven! What an apparition was there presented
+to his view! He saw, delineated in the cloud, the shoulders, arms, and
+features of a human being of the most dreadful aspect. The face was the
+face of his brother, but dilated to twenty times the natural size. Its
+dark eyes gleamed on him through the mist, while every furrow of its
+hideous brow frowned deep as the ravines on the brow of the hill.
+George started, and his hair stood up in bristles as he gazed on this
+horrible monster. He saw every feature and every line of the face
+distinctly as it gazed on him with an intensity that was hardly
+brookable. Its eyes were fixed on him, in the same manner as those of
+some carnivorous animal fixed on its prey; and yet there was fear and
+trembling in these unearthly features, as plainly depicted as murderous
+malice. The giant apparition seemed sometimes to be cowering down as in
+terror, so that nothing but his brow and eyes were seen; still these
+never turned one moment from their object--again it rose imperceptively
+up, and began to approach with great caution; and, as it neared, the
+dimensions of its form lessened, still continuing, however, far above
+the natural size.
+
+George conceived it to be a spirit. He could conceive it to be nothing
+else; and he took it for some horrid demon by which he was haunted,
+that had assumed the features of his brother in every lineament, but,
+in taking on itself the human form, had miscalculated dreadfully on the
+size, and presented itself thus to him in a blown-up, dilated frame of
+embodied air, exhaled from the caverns of death or the regions of
+devouring fire. He was further confirmed in the belief that it was a
+malignant spirit on perceiving that it approached him across the front
+of a precipice, where there was not footing for thing of mortal frame.
+Still, what with terror and astonishment, he continued riveted to the
+spot, till it approached, as he deemed, to within two yards of him; and
+then, perceiving that it was setting itself to make a violent spring on
+him, he started to his feet and fled distractedly in the opposite
+direction, keeping his eye cast behind him lest he had been seized in
+that dangerous place. But the very first bolt that he made in his
+flight he came in contact with a real body of flesh and blood, and that
+with such violence that both went down among some scragged rocks, and
+George rolled over the other. The being called out "Murder"; and,
+rising, fled precipitately. George then perceived that it was his
+brother; and being confounded between the shadow and the substance, he
+knew not what he was doing or what he had done; and, there being only
+one natural way of retreat from the brink of the rock, he likewise
+arose and pursued the affrighted culprit with all his speed towards the
+top of the hill. Wringhim was braying out, "Murder! murder!" at which
+George, being disgusted, and his spirits all in a ferment from some
+hurried idea of intended harm, the moment he came up with the craven he
+seized him rudely by the shoulder, and clapped his hand on his mouth.
+"Murder, you beast!" said he; "what do you mean by roaring out murder
+in that way? Who the devil is murdering you, or offering to murder you?"
+
+Wringhim forced his mouth from under his brother's hand, and roared
+with redoubled energy: "Eh! Egh! Murder! murder!" etc. George had felt
+resolute to put down this shocking alarm, lest someone might hear it
+and fly to the spot, or draw inferences widely different from the
+truth; and, perceiving the terror of this elect youth to be so great
+that expostulation was vain, he seized him by the mouth and nose with
+his left hand so strenuously that he sank his fingers into his cheeks.
+But, the poltroon still attempting to bray out, George gave him such a
+stunning blow with his fist on the left temple that he crumbled, as it
+were, to the ground, but more from the effects of terror than those of
+the blow. His nose, however, again gushed out blood, a system of
+defence which seemed as natural to him as that resorted to by the race
+of stinkards. He then raised himself on his knees and hams, and raising
+up his ghastly face, while the blood streamed over both ears, he
+besought his life of his brother, in the most abject whining manner,
+gaping and blubbering most piteously.
+
+"Tell me then, Sir," said George, resolved to make the most of the
+wretch's terror--"tell me for what purpose it is that you haunt my
+steps? Tell me plainly, and instantly, else I will throw you from the
+verge of that precipice."
+
+"Oh, I will never do it again! I will never do it again! Spare my life,
+dear, good brother! Spare my life! Sure I never did you any hurt."
+
+"Swear to me, then, by the God that made you, that you will never
+henceforth follow after me to torment me with your hellish threatening
+looks; swear that you will never again come into my presence without
+being invited. Will you take an oath to this effect?"
+
+"Oh yes! I will, I will!"
+
+"But this is not all: you must tell me for what purpose you sought me
+out here this morning?"
+
+"Oh, brother! For nothing but your good. I had nothing at heart but
+your unspeakable profit, and great and endless good."
+
+"So, then, you indeed knew that I was here?"
+
+"I was told so by a friend, but I did not believe him; a--a--at least I
+did not know that it was true till I saw you."
+
+"Tell me this one thing, then, Robert, and all shall be forgotten and
+forgiven. Who was that friend?"
+
+"You do not know him."
+
+"How then does he know me?"
+
+"I cannot tell."
+
+"Was he here present with you to-day?"
+
+"Yes; he was not far distant. He came to this hill with me."
+
+"Where then is he now?"
+
+"I cannot tell."
+
+"Then, wretch, confess that the devil was that friend who told you I
+was here, and who came here with you. None else could possibly know of
+my being here."
+
+"Ah! how little you know of him! Would you argue that there is neither
+man nor spirit endowed with so much foresight as to deduce natural
+conclusions from previous actions and incidents but the devil? Alas,
+brother! But why should I wonder at such abandoned notions and
+principles? It was fore-ordained that you should cherish them, and that
+they should be the ruin of your soul and body, before the world was
+framed. Be assured of this, however, that I had no aim of seeking you
+but your good!"
+
+"Well, Robert, I will believe it. I am disposed to be hasty and
+passionate: it is a fault in my nature; but I never meant, or wished
+you evil; and God is my witness that I would as soon stretch out my
+hand to my own life, or my father's, as to yours." At these words,
+Wringhim uttered a hollow exulting laugh, put his hands in his pockets,
+and withdrew a space to his accustomed distance. George continued: "And
+now, once for all, I request that we may exchange forgiveness, and that
+we may part and remain friends."
+
+"Would such a thing be expedient, think you? Or consistent with the
+glory of God? I doubt it."
+
+"I can think of nothing that would be more so. Is it not consistent
+with every precept of the Gospel? Come, brother, say that our
+reconciliation is complete."
+
+"Oh yes, certainly! I tell you, brother, according to the flesh: it is
+just as complete as the lark's is with the adder, no more so, nor ever
+can. Reconciled, forsooth! To what would I be reconciled?"
+
+As he said this, he strode indignantly away. From the moment that he
+heard his life was safe, he assumed his former insolence and revengeful
+looks--and never were they more dreadful than on parting with his
+brother that morning on the top of the hill. "Well, go thy way," said
+George; "some would despise, but I pity thee. If thou art not a limb of
+Satan, I never saw one."
+
+The sun had now dispelled the vapours; and, the morning being lovely
+beyond description, George sat himself down on the top of the hill, and
+pondered deeply on the unaccountable incident that had befallen to him
+that morning. He could in no-wise comprehend it; but, taking it with
+other previous circumstances, he could not get quit of a conviction
+that he was haunted by some evil genius in the shape of his brother, as
+well as by that dark and mysterious wretch himself. In no other way
+could he account for the apparition he saw that morning on the face of
+the rock, nor for several sudden appearances of the same being, in
+places where there was no possibility of any foreknowledge that he
+himself was to be there, and as little that the same being, if he were
+flesh and blood like other men, could always start up in the same
+position with regard to him. He determined, therefore, on reaching
+home, to relate all that had happened, from beginning to end, to his
+father, asking his counsel and his assistance, although he knew full
+well that his father was not the fittest man in the world to solve such
+a problem. He was now involved in party politics, over head and ears;
+and, moreover, he could never hear the names of either of the Wringhims
+mentioned without getting into a quandary of disgust and anger; and all
+that he would deign to say of them was, to call them by all the
+opprobrious names he could invent.
+
+It turned out as the young man from the first suggested: old Dalcastle
+would listen to nothing concerning them with any patience. George
+complained that his brother harassed him with his presence at all
+times, and in all places. Old Dal asked why he did not kick the dog out
+of his presence whenever he felt him disagreeable? George said he
+seemed to have some demon for a familiar. Dal answered that he did not
+wonder a bit at that, for the young spark was the third in a direct
+line who had all been children of adultery; and it was well known that
+all such were born half-deils themselves, and nothing was more likely
+than that they should hold intercourse with their fellows. In the same
+style did he sympathize with all his son's late sufferings and
+perplexities.
+
+In Mr. Adam Gordon, however, George found a friend who entered into all
+his feelings, and had seen and known everything about the matter. He
+tried to convince him that at all events there could be nothing
+supernatural in the circumstances; and that the vision he had seen on
+the rock, among the thick mist, was the shadow of his brother
+approaching behind him. George could not swallow this, for he had seen
+his own shadow on the cloud, and, instead of approaching to aught like
+his own figure, he perceived nothing but a halo of glory round a point
+of the cloud that was whither and purer than the rest. Gordon said, if
+he would go with him to a mountain of his father's, which he named, in
+Aberdeenshire, he would show him a giant spirit of the same dimensions,
+any morning at the rising of the sun, provided he shone on that spot.
+This statement excited George's curiosity exceedingly; and, being
+disgusted with some things about Edinburgh, and glad to get out of the
+way, he consented to go with Gordon to the Highlands for a space. The
+day was accordingly set for their departure, the old laird's assent
+obtained, and the two young sparks parted in a state of great
+impatience for their excursion.
+
+One of them found out another engagement, however, the instant after
+this last was determined on. Young Wringhim went off the hill that
+morning, and home to his upright guardian again without washing the
+blood from his face and neck; and there he told a most woeful story
+indeed: how he had gone out to take a morning's walk on the hill, where
+he had encountered with his reprobate brother among the mist, who had
+knocked him down and very near murdered him; threatening dreadfully,
+and with horrid oaths, to throw him from the top of the cliff.
+
+The wrath of the great divine was kindled beyond measure. He cursed the
+aggressor in the name of the Most High; and bound himself, by an oath,
+to cause that wicked one's transgressions return upon his own head
+sevenfold. But, before he engaged further in the business of vengeance,
+he kneeled with his adopted son, and committed the whole cause unto the
+Lord, whom he addressed as one coming breathing burning coals of
+juniper, and casting his lightnings before him, to destroy and root out
+all who had moved hand or tongue against the children of the promise.
+Thus did he arise confirmed, and go forth to certain conquest.
+
+We cannot enter into the detail of the events that now occurred without
+forestalling a part of the narrative of one who knew all the
+circumstances--was deeply interested in them, and whose relation is of
+higher value than anything that can be retailed out of the stores of
+tradition and old registers; but, his narrative being different from
+these, it was judged expedient to give the account as thus publicly
+handed down to us. Suffice it that, before evening, George was
+apprehended, and lodged in jail, on a criminal charge of an assault and
+battery, to the shedding of blood, with the intent of committing
+fratricide. Then was the old laird in great consternation, and blamed
+himself for treating the thing so lightly, which seemed to have been
+gone about, from the beginning, so systematically, and with an intent
+which the villains were now going to realize, namely, to get the young
+laird disposed of; and then his brother, in spite of the old
+gentleman's teeth, would be laird himself.
+
+Old Dal now set his whole interest to work among the noblemen and
+lawyers of his party. His son's case looked exceedingly ill, owing to
+the former assault before witnesses, and the unbecoming expressions
+made use of by him on that occasion, as well as from the present
+assault, which George did not deny, and for which no moving cause or
+motive could be made to appear.
+
+On his first declaration before the sheriff, matters looked no better:
+but then the sheriff was a Whig. It is well known how differently the
+people of the present day, in Scotland, view the cases of their own
+party-men and those of opposite political principles. But this day is
+nothing to that in such matters, although, God knows, they are still
+sometimes barefaced enough. It appeared, from all the witnesses in the
+first case, that the complainant was the first aggressor--that he
+refused to stand out of the way, though apprised of his danger; and,
+when his brother came against him inadvertently, he had aimed a blow at
+him with his foot, which, if it had taken effect, would have killed
+him. But as to the story of the apparition in fair day-light--the
+flying from the face of it--the running foul of his brother pursuing
+him, and knocking him down, why the judge smiled at the relation, and
+saying: "It was a very extraordinary story," he remanded George to
+prison, leaving the matter to the High Court of Justiciary.
+
+When the case came before that court, matters took a different turn.
+The constant and sullen attendance of the one brother upon the other
+excited suspicions; and these were in some manner confirmed when the
+guards at Queensberry House deported that the prisoner went by them on
+his way to the hill that morning, about twenty minutes before the
+complainant, and, when the latter passed, he asked if such a young man
+had passed before him, describing the prisoner's appearance to them;
+and that, on being answered in the affirmative, he mended his pace and
+fell a-running.
+
+The Lord Justice, on hearing this, asked the prisoner if he had any
+suspicions that his brother had a design on his life.
+
+He answered that all along, from the time of their first unfortunate
+meeting, his brother had dogged his steps so constantly, and so
+unaccountably, that he was convinced it was with some intent out of the
+ordinary course of events; and that if, as his lordship supposed, it
+was indeed his shadow that he had seen approaching him through the
+mist, then, from the cowering and cautious manner that it advanced,
+there was no little doubt that his brother's design had been to push
+him headlong from the cliff that morning.
+
+A conversation then took place between the judge and the Lord Advocate;
+and, in the meantime, a bustle was seen in the hall; on which the doors
+were ordered to be guarded, and, behold, the precious Mr. R. Wringhim
+was taken into custody, trying to make his escape out of court. Finally
+it turned out that George was honourably acquitted, and young Wringhim
+bound over to keep the peace, with heavy penalties and securities.
+
+That was a day of high exultation to George and his youthful
+associates, all of whom abhorred Wringhim; and, the evening being spent
+in great glee, it was agreed between Mr. Adam Gordon and George that
+their visit to the Highlands, though thus long delayed, was not to be
+abandoned; and though they had, through the machinations of an
+incendiary, lost the season of delight, they would still find plenty of
+sport in deer-shooting. Accordingly, the day was set a second time for
+their departure; and, on the day preceding that, all the party were
+invited by George to dine with him once more at the sign of the Black
+Bull of Norway. Everyone promised to attend, anticipating nothing but
+festivity and joy. Alas, what short-sighted improvident creatures we
+are, all of us; and how often does the evening cup of joy lead to
+sorrow in the morning!
+
+The day arrived--the party of young noblemen and gentlemen met, and
+were as happy and jovial as men could be. George was never seen so
+brilliant, or so full of spirits; and exulting to see so many gallant
+young chiefs and gentlemen about him, who all gloried in the same
+principles of loyalty (perhaps this word should have been written
+disloyalty), he made speeches, gave toasts, and sung songs, all leaning
+slyly to the same side, until a very late hour. By that time he had
+pushed the bottle so long and so freely that its fumes had taken
+possession of every brain to such a degree that they held Dame Reason
+rather at the staff's end, overbearing all her counsels and
+expostulations; and it was imprudently proposed by a wild inebriated
+spark, and carried by a majority of voices, that the whole party should
+adjourn to a bagnio for the remainder of the night.
+
+They did so; and it appears from what follows that the house, to which
+they retired must have been somewhere on the opposite side of the
+street to the Black Bull Inn, a little farther to the eastward. They
+had not been an hour in that house till some altercation chanced to
+arise between George Colwan and a Mr. Drummond, the younger son of a
+nobleman of distinction. It was perfectly casual, and no one
+thenceforward, to this day, could ever tell what it was about, if it
+was not about the misunderstanding of some word or term that the one
+had uttered. However it was, some high words passed between them; these
+were followed by threats, and, in less than two minutes from the
+commencement of the quarrel, Drummond left the house in apparent
+displeasure, hinting to the other that they two should settle that in a
+more convenient place.
+
+The company looked at one another, for all was over before any of them
+knew such a thing was begun. "What the devil is the matter?" cried one.
+"What ails Drummond?" cried another. "Who has he quarrelled with?"
+asked a third.
+
+"Don't know."--"Can't tell, on my life."--"He has quarrelled with his
+wine, I suppose, and is going to send it a challenge."
+
+Such were the questions, and such the answers that passed in the jovial
+party, and the matter was no more thought of.
+
+But in the course of a very short space, about the length which the
+ideas of the company were the next day at great variance, a sharp rap
+came to the door. It was opened by a female; but, there being a chain
+inside, she only saw one side of the person at the door. He appeared to
+be a young gentleman, in appearance like him who had lately left the
+house, and asked, in a low whispering voice, "if young Dalcastle was
+still in the house?" The woman did not know. "If he is," added he,
+"pray tell him to speak with me for a few minutes." The woman delivered
+the message before all the party, among whom there were then sundry
+courteous ladies of notable distinction, and George, on receiving it,
+instantly rose from the side of one of them, and said, in the hearing
+of them all, "I will bet a hundred merks that is Drummond."--"Don't go
+to quarrel with him, George," said one.--"Bring him in with you," said
+another. George stepped out; the door was again bolted, the chain drawn
+across, and the inadvertent party, left within, thought no more of the
+circumstance till the morning, that the report had spread over the city
+that a young gentleman had been slain, on a little washing-green at the
+side of the North Loch, and at the very bottom of the close where this
+thoughtless party had been assembled.
+
+Several of them, on first hearing the report, basted to the dead-room
+in the Guard-house, where the corpse had been deposited, and soon
+discovered the body to be that of their friend and late entertainer,
+George Colwan. Great were the consternation and grief of all concerned,
+and, in particular, of his old father and Miss Logan; for George had
+always been the sole hope and darling of both, and the news of the
+event paralysed them so as to render them incapable of all thought or
+exertion. The spirit of the old laird was broken by the blow, and he
+descended at once from a jolly, good-natured and active man to a mere
+driveller, weeping over the body of his son, kissing his wound, his
+lips, and his cold brow alternately; denouncing vengeance on his
+murderers, and lamenting that he himself had not met the cruel doom, so
+that the hope of his race might have been preserved. In short, finding
+that all further motive of action and object of concern or of love,
+here below, were for ever removed from him, he abandoned himself to
+despair, and threatened to go down to the grave with his son.
+
+But, although he made no attempt to discover the murderers, the arm of
+justice was not idle; and, it being evident to all that the crime must
+infallibly be brought home to young Drummond, some of his friends
+sought him out, and compelled him, sorely against his will, to retire
+into concealment till the issue of the proof that should be led was
+made known. At the same time, he denied all knowledge of the incident
+with a resolution that astonished his intimate friends and relations,
+who to a man suspected him guilty. His father was not in Scotland, for
+I think it was said to me that this young man was second son to a John,
+Duke of Melfort, who lived abroad with the royal family of the Stuarts;
+but this young gentleman lived with the relations of his mother, one of
+whom, an uncle, was a Lord of Session: these, having thoroughly
+effected his concealment, went away, and listened to the evidence; and
+the examination of every new witness convinced them that their noble
+young relative was the slayer of his friend.
+
+All the young gentlemen of the party were examined, save Drummond, who,
+when sent for, could not be found, which circumstance sorely confirmed
+the suspicions against him in the minds of judges and jurors, friends
+and enemies; and there is little doubt that the care of his relations
+in concealing him injured his character and his cause. The young
+gentlemen of whom the party was composed varied considerably with
+respect to the quarrel between him and the deceased. Some of them had
+neither heard nor noted it; others had, but not one of them could tell
+how it began. Some of them had heard the threat uttered by Drummond on
+leaving the house, and one only had noted him lay his hand on his
+sword. Not one of them could swear that it was Drummond who came to the
+door and desired to speak with the deceased, but the general impression
+on the minds of them all was to that effect; and one of the women swore
+that she heard the voice distinctly at the door, and every word that
+voice pronounced, and at the same time heard the deceased say that it
+was Drummond's.
+
+On the other hand, there were some evidences on Drummond's part, which
+Lord Craigie, his uncle, had taken care to collect. He produced the
+sword which his nephew had worn that night, on which there was neither
+blood nor blemish; and, above all, he insisted on the evidence of a
+number of surgeons, who declared that both the wounds which the
+deceased had received had been given behind. One of these was below the
+left arm, and a slight one; the other was quite through the body, and
+both evidently inflicted with the same weapon, a two-edged sword, of
+the same dimensions as that worn by Drummond.
+
+Upon the whole, there was a division in the court, but a majority
+decided it. Drummond was pronounced guilty of the murder; outlawed for
+not appearing, and a high reward offered for his apprehension. It was
+with the greatest difficulty that he escaped on board of a small
+trading vessel, which landed him in Holland, and from thence, flying
+into Germany, he entered into the service of the Emperor Charles VI.
+Many regretted that he was not taken, and made to suffer the penalty
+due for such a crime, and the melancholy incident became a pulpit theme
+over a great part of Scotland, being held up as a proper warning to
+youth to beware of such haunts of vice and depravity, the nurses of all
+that is precipitate, immoral, and base, among mankind.
+
+After the funeral of this promising and excellent young man, his father
+never more held up his head. Miss Logan, with all her art, could not
+get him to attend to any worldly thing, or to make any settlement
+whatsoever of his affairs, save making her over a present of what
+disposable funds he had about him. As to his estates, when they were
+mentioned to him, he wished them all in the bottom of the sea, and
+himself along with them. But, whenever she mentioned the circumstance
+of Thomas Drummond having been the murderer of his son, he shook his
+head, and once made the remark that "It was all a mistake, a gross and
+fatal error; but that God, who had permitted such a flagrant deed,
+would bring it to light in his own time and way." In a few weeks he
+followed his son to the grave, and the notorious Robert Wringhim took
+possession of his estates as the lawful son of the late laird, born in
+wedlock, and under his father's roof. The investiture was celebrated by
+prayer, singing of psalms, and religious disputation. The late guardian
+and adopted father, and the mother of the new laird, presided on the
+grand occasion, making a conspicuous figure in all the work of the day;
+and, though the youth himself indulged rather more freely in the bottle
+than he had ever been seen to do before, it was agreed by all present
+that there had never been a festivity so sanctified within the great
+hall of Dalcastle. Then, after due thanks returned, they parted
+rejoicing in spirit; which thanks, by the by, consisted wholly in
+telling the Almighty what he was; and informing, with very particular
+precision, what they were who addressed him; for Wringhim's whole
+system of popular declamation consisted, it seems, in this--to denounce
+all men and women to destruction, and then hold out hopes to his
+adherents that they were the chosen few, included in the promises, and
+who could never fall away. It would appear that this pharisaical
+doctrine is a very delicious one, and the most grateful of all others
+to the worst characters.
+
+But the ways of heaven are altogether inscrutable, and soar as far
+above and beyond the works and the comprehensions of man as the sun,
+flaming in majesty, is above the tiny boy's evening rocket. It is the
+controller of Nature alone that can bring light out of darkness, and
+order out of confusion. Who is he that causeth the mole, from his
+secret path of darkness, to throw up the gem, the gold, and the
+precious ore? The same that from the mouths of babes and sucklings can
+extract the perfection of praise, and who can make the most abject of
+his creatures instrumental in bringing the most hidden truths to light.
+
+Miss Logan had never lost the thought of her late master's prediction
+that Heaven would bring to light the truth concerning the untimely
+death of his son. She perceived that some strange conviction, too
+horrible for expression, preyed on his mind from the moment that the
+fatal news reached him to the last of his existence; and, in his last
+ravings, he uttered some incoherent words about justification by faith
+alone and absolute and eternal predestination having been the ruin of
+his house. These, to be sure, were the words of superannuation, and of
+the last and severest kind of it; but, for all that, they sunk deep
+into Miss Logan's soul, and at last she began to think with herself:
+"Is it possible the Wringhims, and the sophisticating wretch who is in
+conjunction with them, the mother of my late beautiful and amiable
+young master, can have effected his destruction? If so, I will spend my
+days, and my little patrimony, in endeavours to rake up and expose the
+unnatural deed."
+
+In all her outgoings and incomings Mrs. Logan (as she was now styled)
+never lost sight of this one object. Every new disappointment only
+whetted her desire to fish up some particulars, concerning it; for she
+thought so long and so ardently upon it that by degrees it became
+settled in her mind as a sealed truth. And, as woman is always most
+jealous of her own sex in such matters, her suspicions were fixed on
+her greatest enemy, Mrs. Colwan, now the Lady Dowager of Dalcastle. All
+was wrapt in a chaos of confusion and darkness; but at last, by dint of
+a thousand sly and secret inquiries, Mrs. Logan found out where Lady
+Dalcastle had been on the night that the murder happened, and likewise
+what company she had kept, as well as some of the comers and goers; and
+she had hopes of having discovered a clue, which, if she could keep
+hold of the thread, would lead her through darkness to the light of
+truth.
+
+Returning very late one evening from a convocation of family servants,
+which she had drawn together in order to fish something out of them,
+her maid having been in attendance on her all the evening, they found,
+on going home, that the house had been broken and a number of valuable
+articles stolen therefrom. Mrs. Logan had grown quite heartless before
+this stroke, having been altogether unsuccessful in her inquiries, and
+now she began to entertain some resolutions of giving up the fruitless
+search.
+
+In a few days thereafter, she received intelligence that her clothes
+and plate were mostly recovered, and that she for one was bound over to
+prosecute the depredator, provided the articles turned out to be hers,
+as libelled in the indictment, and as a king's evidence had given out.
+She was likewise summoned, or requested, I know not which, being
+ignorant of these matters, to go as far as the town of Peebles in
+Tweedside, in order to survey these articles on such a day, and make
+affidavit to their identity before the Sheriff She went accordingly;
+but, on entering the town by the North Gate, she was accosted by a poor
+girl in tattered apparel, who with great earnestness inquired if her
+name was not Mrs. Logan? On being answered in the affirmative, she said
+that the unfortunate prisoner in the Tolbooth requested her, as she
+valued all that was dear to her in life, to go and see her before she
+appeared in court at the hour of cause, as she (the prisoner) had
+something of the greatest moment to impart to her. Mrs. Logan's
+curiosity was excited, and she followed the girl straight to the
+Tolbooth, who by the way said to her that she would find in the
+prisoner a woman of superior mind, who had gone through all the
+vicissitudes of life. "She has been very unfortunate, and I fear very
+wicked," added the poor thing, "but she is my mother, and God knows,
+with all her faults and failings, she has never been unkind to me. You,
+madam, have it in your power to save her; but she has wronged you, and
+therefore, if you will not do it for her sake, do it for mine, and the
+God of the fatherless will reward you."
+
+Mrs. Logan answered her with a cast of the head, and a hem! and only
+remarked, that "the guilty must not always be suffered to escape, or
+what a world must we be doomed to live in!"
+
+She was admitted to the prison, and found a tall emaciated figure, who
+appeared to have once possessed a sort of masculine beauty in no
+ordinary degree, but was now considerably advanced in years. She viewed
+Mrs. Logan with a stem, steady gaze, as if reading her features as a
+margin to her intellect; and when she addressed her it was not with
+that humility, and agonized fervour, which are natural for one in such
+circumstances to address to another who has the power of her life and
+death in her hands.
+
+"I am deeply indebted to you for this timely visit, Mrs. Logan," said
+she. "It is not that I value life, or because I fear death, that I have
+sent for you so expressly. But the manner of the death that awaits me
+has something peculiarly revolting in it to a female mind. Good God!
+when I think of being hung up, a spectacle to a gazing, gaping
+multitude, with numbers of which I have had intimacies and connections,
+that would render the moment of parting so hideous, that, believe me,
+it rends to flinders a soul born for another sphere than that in which
+it has moved, had not the vile selfishness of a lordly fiend ruined all
+my prospects and all my hopes. Hear me then; for I do not ask your
+pity: I only ask of you to look to yourself, and behave with womanly
+prudence, if you deny this day that these goods are yours, there is no
+other evidence whatever against my life, and it is safe for the
+present. For, as for the word of the wretch who has betrayed me, it is
+of no avail; he has prevaricated so notoriously to save himself. If you
+deny them, you shall have them all again to the value of a mite, and
+more to the bargain. If you swear to the identity of them, the process
+will, one way and another, cost you the half of what they are worth."
+
+"And what security have I for that?" said Mrs. Logan.
+
+"You have none but my word," said the other proudly, "and that never
+yet was violated. If you cannot take that, I know the worst you can do.
+But I had forgot--I have a poor helpless child without, waiting and
+starving about the prison door. Surely it was of her that I wished to
+speak. This shameful death of mine will leave her in a deplorable
+state."
+
+"The girl seems to have candour and strong affections," said Mrs.
+Logan. "I grievously mistake if such a child would not be a thousand
+times better without such a guardian and director."
+
+"Then will you be so kind as to come to the Grass Market and see me put
+down?" said the prisoner. "I thought a woman would estimate a woman's
+and a mother's feelings, when such a dreadful throw was at stake, at
+least in part. But you are callous, and have never known any feelings
+but those of subordination to your old unnatural master. Alas, I have
+no cause of offence! I have wronged you; and justice must take its
+course. Will you forgive me before we part?"
+
+Mrs. Logan hesitated, for her mind ran on something else. On which the
+other subjoined: "No, you will not forgive me, I see. But you will pray
+to God to forgive me? I know you will do that."
+
+Mrs. Logan heard not this jeer, but, looking at the prisoner with an
+absent and stupid stare, she said: "Did you know my late master?"
+
+"Ay, that I did, and never for any good," said she. "I knew the old and
+the young spark both, and was by when the latter was slain."
+
+This careless sentence affected Mrs. Logan in a most peculiar manner. A
+shower of tears burst from her eyes ere it was done, and, when it was,
+she appeared like one bereaved of her mind. She first turned one way
+and then another, as if looking for something she had dropped. She
+seemed to think she had lost her eyes, instead of her tears, and at
+length, as by instinct, she tottered close up to the prisoner's face,
+and, looking wistfully and joyfully in it, said, with breathless
+earnestness: "Pray, mistress, what is your name?"
+
+"My name is Arabella Calvert," said the other. "Miss, mistress, or
+widow, as you choose, for I have been all the three, and that not once
+nor twice only. Ay, and something beyond all these. But, as for you,
+you have never been anything!"
+
+"Ay, ay! and so you are Bell Calvert? Well, I thought so--I thought
+so," said Mrs. Logan; and, helping herself to a seat, she came and sat
+down dose by the prisoner's knee. "So you are indeed Bell Calvert, so
+called once. Well, of all the world you are the woman whom I have
+longed and travailed the most to see. But you were invisible; a being
+to be heard of, not seen."
+
+"There have been days, madam," returned she, "when I was to be seen,
+and when there were few to be seen like me. But since that time there
+have indeed been days on which I was not to be seen. My crimes have
+been great, but my sufferings have been greater. So great that neither
+you nor the world can ever either know or conceive them. I hope they
+will be taken into account by the Most High. Mine have been crimes of
+utter desperation. But whom am I speaking to? You had better leave me
+to myself, mistress."
+
+"Leave you to yourself? That I will be loth to do till you tell me
+where you were that night my young master was murdered."
+
+"Where the devil would, I was! Will that suffice you? Ah, it was a vile
+action! A night to be remembered that was! Won't you be going? I want
+to trust my daughter with a commission."
+
+"No, Mrs. Calvert, you and I part not till you have divulged that
+mystery to me."
+
+"You must accompany me to the other world, then, for you shall not have
+it in this."
+
+"If you refuse to answer me, I can have you before a tribunal, where
+you shall be sifted to the soul."
+
+"Such miserable inanity! What care I for your threatenings of a
+tribunal? I who must soon stand before my last earthly one? What could
+the word of such a culprit avail? Or, if it could, where is the judge
+that could enforce it?"
+
+"Did you not say that there was some mode of accommodating matters on
+that score?"
+
+"Yes, I prayed you to grant me my life, which is in your power. The
+saving of it would not have cost you a plack, yet you refused to do it.
+The taking of it will cost you a great deal, and yet to that purpose
+you adhere. I can have no parley with such a spirit. I would not have
+my life in a present from its motions, nor would I exchange courtesies
+with its possessor."
+
+"Indeed, Mrs. Calvert, since ever we met, I have been so busy thinking
+about who you might be that I know not what you have been proposing. I
+believe I meant to do what I could to save you But, once for all, tell
+me everything that you know concerning that amiable young gentleman's
+death, and here is my band there shall be nothing wanting that I can
+effect for you."
+
+"No I despise all barter with such mean and selfish curiosity; and, as
+I believe that passion is stronger with you, than fear with me, we part
+on equal terms. Do your worst; and my secret shall go to the gallows
+and the grave with me."
+
+Mrs. Logan was now greatly confounded, and after proffering in vain to
+concede everything she could ask in exchange, for the particulars
+relating to the murder, she became the suppliant in her turn. But the
+unaccountable culprit, exulting in her advantage, laughed her to scorn;
+and finally, in a paroxysm of pride and impatience, called in the
+jailor and had her expelled, ordering him in her hearing not to grant
+her admittance a second time, on any pretence.
+
+Mrs. Logan was now hard put to it, and again driven almost to despair.
+She might have succeeded in the attainment of that she thirsted for
+most in life so easily had she known the character with which she had
+to deal. Had she known to have soothed her high and afflicted spirit:
+but that opportunity was past, and the hour of examination at hand. She
+once thought of going and claiming her articles, as she at first
+intended; but then, when she thought again of the Wringhims swaying it
+at Dalcastle, where she had been wont to hear them held in such
+contempt, if not abhorrence, and perhaps of holding it by the most
+diabolical means, she was withheld from marring the only chance that
+remained of having a glimpse into that mysterious affair.
+
+Finally, she resolved not to answer to her name in the court, rather
+than to appear and assert a falsehood, which she might be called on to
+certify by oath. She did so; and heard the Sheriff give orders to the
+officers to make inquiry for Miss Logan from Edinburgh, at the various
+places of entertainment in town, and to expedite her arrival in court,
+as things of great value were in dependence. She also heard the man who
+had turned king's evidence against the prisoner examined for the second
+time, and sifted most cunningly. His answers gave anything but
+satisfaction to the Sheriff, though Mrs. Logan believed them to be
+mainly truth. But there were a few questions and answers that struck
+her above all others.
+
+"How long is it since Mrs. Calvert and you became acquainted?"
+
+"About a year and a half."
+
+"State the precise time, if you please; the day, or night, according to
+your remembrance."
+
+"It was on the morning of the 28th of February, 1705."
+
+"What time of the morning?"
+
+"Perhaps about one."
+
+"So early as that? At what place did you meet then?"
+
+"It was at the foot of one of the north wynds of Edinburgh." "Was it by
+appointment that you met?"
+
+"No, it was not."
+
+"For what purpose was it then?"
+
+"For no purpose."
+
+"How is it that you chance to remember the day and hour so minutely, if
+you met that woman, whom you have accused, merely by chance, and for no
+manner of purpose, as you must have met others that night, perhaps to
+the amount of hundreds, in the same way?"
+
+"I have good cause to remember it, my lord."
+
+"What was that cause?--No answer?--You don't choose to say what that
+cause was?"
+
+"I am not at liberty to tell."
+
+The Sheriff then descended to other particulars, all of which tended to
+prove that the fellow was an accomplished villain, and that the
+principal share of the atrocities had been committed by him. Indeed the
+Sheriff hinted that he suspected the only share Mrs. Calvert had in
+them was in being too much in his company, and too true to him. The
+case was remitted to the Court of Justiciary;  but Mrs. Logan had heard
+enough to convince her that the culprits first met at the very spot,
+and the very hour, on which George Colwan was slain; and she had no
+doubt that they were incendiaries set on by his mother, to forward her
+own and her darling son's way to opulence. Mrs. Logan was wrong, as
+will appear in the sequel; but her antipathy to Mrs. Colwan made her
+watch the event with all care. She never quitted Peebles as long as
+Bell Calvert remained there, and, when she was removed to Edinburgh,
+the other followed. When the trial came on, Mrs. Logan and her maid
+were again summoned as witnesses before the jury, and compelled by the
+prosecutor for the Crown to appear.
+
+The maid was first called; and, when she came into the witness box, the
+anxious and hopeless looks of the prisoner were manifest to all. But
+the girl, whose name, she said, was Bessy Gillies, answered in so
+flippant and fearless a way that the auditors were much amused. After a
+number of routine questions, the depute-advocate asked her if she was
+at home on the morning of the fifth of September last, when her
+mistress's house was robbed.
+
+"Was I at hame, say ye? Na, faith-ye, lad! An' I had been at hame,
+there had been mair to dee. I wad hae raised sic a yelloch!"
+
+"Where were you that morning?"
+
+"Where was I, say you? I was in the house where my mistress was,
+sitting dozing an' half sleeping in the kitchen. I thought aye she
+would be setting out every minute, for twa hours."
+
+"And, when you went home, what did you find?"
+
+"What found we? Be my sooth, we found a broken lock, an' toom kists."
+
+"Relate some of the particulars, if you please."
+
+"Sir, the thieves didna stand upon particulars: they were halesale
+dealers in a' our best wares."
+
+"I mean, what passed between your mistress and you on the occasion?"
+
+"What passed, say ye? O, there wasna muckle: I was in a great passion,
+but she was dung doitrified a wee. When she gaed to put the key i' the
+door, up it flew to the fer wa'. 'Bless ye, jaud, what's the meaning o'
+this?' quo she. 'Ye hae left the door open, ye tawpie!' quo she. 'The
+ne'er o' that I did,' quo I, 'or may my shakel bane never turn another
+key.' When we got the candle lightit, a' the house was in a hoad-road.
+'Bessy, my woman,' quo she, 'we are baith ruined and undone creatures.'
+'The deil a bit,' quo I; 'that I deny positively. H'mh! to speak o' a
+lass o' my age being ruined and undone! I never had muckle except what
+was within a good jerkin, an' let the thief ruin me there wha can.
+
+"Do you remember aught else that your mistress said on the occasion?
+Did you hear her blame any person?"
+
+"O, she made a gread deal o' grumphing an' groaning about the
+misfortune, as she ca'd it, an' I think she said it was a part o' the
+ruin, wrought by the Ringans, or some sic name. 'They'll hae't a'!
+They'll hae't a'!' cried she, wringing her hands; 'a'! they'll hae' a',
+an' hell wi't, an' they'll get them baith.' 'Aweel, that's aye some
+satisfaction,' quo I."
+
+"Whom did she mean by the Ringans, do you know?"
+
+"I fancy they are some creatures that she has dreamed about, for I
+think there canna be as ill folks living as she ca's them."
+
+"Did you never hear say that the prisoner at the bar there, Mrs.
+Calvert, or Bell Calvert, was the robber of her house; or that she was
+one of the Ringans?"
+
+"Never. Somebody tauld her lately that ane Bell Calvert robbed her
+house, but she disna believe it. Neither do I."
+
+"What reasons have you for doubting it?"
+
+"Because it was nae woman's fingers that broke up the bolts an' the
+locks that were torn open that night."
+
+"Very pertinent, Bessy. Come then within the bar, and look, at these
+articles on the table. Did you ever see these silver spoons before?"
+
+"I hae seen some very like them, and whaever has seen siller spoons has
+done the same."
+
+"Can you swear you never saw them before?"
+
+"Na, na, I wadna swear to ony siller spoons that ever war made, unless
+I had put a private mark on them wi' my ain hand, an' that's what I
+never did to ane."
+
+"See, they are all marked with a C."
+
+"Sae are a' the spoons in Argyle, an' the half o' them in Edinburgh I
+think. A C is a very common letter, an' so are a' the names that begin
+wi't. Lay them by, lay them by, an' gie the poor woman her spoons
+again. They are marked wi' her ain name, an' I hae little doubt they
+are hers, an' that she has seen better days."
+
+"Ah, God bless her heart!" sighed the prisoner; and that blessing was
+echoed in the breathings of many a feeling breast.
+
+"Did you ever see this gown before, think you?"
+
+"I hae seen ane very like it."
+
+"Could you not swear that gown was your mistress's once?"
+
+"No, unless I saw her hae't on, an' kend that she had paid for't. I am
+very scrupulous about an oath. Like is an ill mark. Sae ill indeed that
+I wad hardly swear to anything."
+
+"But you say that gown is very like one your mistress used to wear."
+
+"I never said sic a thing. It is like one I hae seen her hae out airing
+on the hay raip i' the back green. It is very like ane I hae seen Mrs.
+Butler in the Grass Market wearing too: I rather think it is the same.
+Bless you, sir, I wadna swear to my ain forefinger, if it had been as
+lang out o' my sight an', brought in an' laid on that table."
+
+"Perhaps you are not aware, girl, that this scrupulousness of yours is
+likely to thwart the purposes of justice, and bereave your mistress of
+property to the amount of a thousand merks." (From the Judge.)
+
+"I canna help that, my lord: that's her look-out. For my part, I am
+resolved to keep a clear conscience, till I be married, at any rate."
+
+"Look over these things and see if there is any one article among them
+which you can fix on as the property of your mistress."
+
+"No ane o' them, sir, no ane o' them. An oath is an awfu' thing,
+especially when it is for life or death. Gie the poor woman her things
+again, an' let my mistress pick up the next she finds: that's my
+advice."
+
+When Mrs. Logan came into the box, the prisoner groaned and laid down
+her head. But how she was astonished when she heard her deliver herself
+something to the following purport--That, whatever penalties she was
+doomed to abide, she was determined she would not bear witness against
+a woman's life, from a certain conviction that it could not be a woman
+who broke her house. "I have no doubt that I may find some of my own
+things there," added she, "but, if they were found in her possession,
+she has been made a tool, or the dupe, of an infernal set, who shall be
+nameless here. I believe she did not rob me, and for that reason I will
+have no hand in her condemnation."
+
+The judge: "This is the most singular perversion I have ever witnessed.
+Mrs. Logan, I entertain strong suspicions that the prisoner, or her
+agents, have made some agreement with you on this matter to prevent the
+course of justice."
+
+"So far from that, my lord, I went into the jail at Peebles to this
+woman, whom I had never seen before, and proffered to withdraw my part
+in the prosecution, as well as my evidence, provided she would tell me
+a few simple facts; but she spurned at my offer, and had me turned
+insolently out of the prison, with orders to the jailor never to admit
+me again on any pretence."
+
+The prisoner's counsel, taking hold of this evidence, addressed the
+jury with great fluency; and, finally, the prosecution was withdrawn,
+and the prisoner dismissed from the bar, with a severe reprimand for
+her past conduct, and an exhortation to keep better company.
+
+It was not many days till a caddy came with a large parcel to Mrs.
+Logan's house, which parcel he delivered into her hands, accompanied
+with a sealed note, containing an inventory of the articles, and a
+request to know if the unfortunate Arabella Calvert would be admitted
+to converse with Mrs. Logan.
+
+Never was there a woman so much overjoyed as Mrs. Logan was at this
+message. She returned compliments. Would be most happy to see her; and
+no article of the parcel should be looked at, or touched, till her
+arrival. It was not long till she made her appearance, dressed in
+somewhat better style than she had yet seen her; delivered her over the
+greater part of the stolen property, besides many things that either
+never had belonged to Mrs. Logan or that she thought proper to deny in
+order that the other might retain them.
+
+The tale that she told of her misfortunes was of the most distressing
+nature, and was enough to stir up all the tender, as well as abhorrent
+feelings in the bosom of humanity. She had suffered every deprivation
+in fame, fortune, and person. She had been imprisoned; she had been
+scourged, and branded as an impostor; and all on account of her
+resolute and unmoving fidelity and truth to several of the very worst
+of men, every one of whom had abandoned her to utter destitution and
+shame. But this story we cannot enter on at present, as it would
+perhaps mar the thread of our story, as much as it did the anxious
+anticipations of Mrs. Logan, who sat pining and longing for the
+relation that follows.
+
+"Now I know, Mrs. Logan, that you are expecting a detail of the
+circumstances relating to the death of Mr. George Colwan; and, in
+gratitude for your unbounded generosity and disinterestedness, I will
+tell you all that I know, although, for causes that will appear obvious
+to you, I had determined never in life to divulge one circumstance of
+it. I can tell you, however, that you will be disappointed, for it was
+not the gentleman who was accused, found guilty, and would have
+suffered the utmost penalty of the law had he not made his escape. It
+was not he, I say, who slew your young master, nor had he any hand in
+it."
+
+"I never thought he had. But, pray, how do you come to know this?"
+
+"You shall hear. I had been abandoned in York by an artful and
+consummate fiend; and found guilty of being art and part concerned in
+the most heinous atrocities, and, in his place, suffered what I yet
+shudder to think of I was banished the county, begged my way with my
+poor outcast child up to Edinburgh, and was there obliged, for the
+second time in my life, to betake myself to the most degrading of all
+means to support two wretched lives. I hired a dress, and betook me,
+shivering, to the High Street, too well aware that my form and
+appearance would soon draw me suitors enow at that throng and
+intemperate time of the Parliament. On my very first stepping out to
+the street, a party of young gentlemen was passing. I heard by the
+noise they made, and the tenor of their speech, that they were more
+then mellow, and so I resolved to keep near them, in order, if
+possible, to make some of them my prey. But, just as one of them began
+to eye me, I was rudely thrust into a narrow close by one of the
+guardsmen. I had heard to what house the party was bound, for the men
+were talking exceedingly loud, and making no secret of it: so I hasted
+down the close, and round below to the one where their rendezvous was
+to be; but I was too late, they were all housed and the door bolted. I
+resolved to wait, thinking they could not all stay long; but I was
+perishing with famine, and was like to fall down. The moon shone as
+bright as day, and I perceived, by a sign at the bottom of the close,
+that there was a small tavern of a certain description up two stairs
+there. I went up and called, telling the mistress of the house my plan.
+She approved of it mainly, and offered me her best apartment, provided
+I could get one of these noble mates to accompany me. She abused Lucky
+Sudds, as she called her, at the inn where the party was, envying her
+huge profits, no doubt, and giving me afterwards something to drink for
+which I really felt exceedingly grateful in my need. I stepped
+downstairs in order to be on the alert. The moment that I reached the
+ground, the door of Lucky Sudds' house opened and shut, and down came
+the Honourable Thomas Drummond, with hasty and impassioned strides, his
+sword rattling at his heel. I accosted him in a soft and soothing tone.
+He was taken with my address; for he instantly stood still and gazed
+intently at me, then at the place, and then at me again. I beckoned him
+to follow me, which he did without further ceremony, and we soon found
+ourselves together in the best room of a house where everything was
+wretched. He still looked about him, and at me; but all this while he
+had never spoken a word. At length, I asked if he would take any
+refreshment? 'If you please,'  said he. I asked what he would have, but
+he only answered, 'Whatever you choose, madam.' If he was taken with my
+address, I was much more taken with his; for he was a complete
+gentleman, and a gentleman will ever act as one. At length, he began as
+follows:
+
+"'I am utterly at a loss to account for this adventure, madam. It seems
+to me like enchantment, and I can hardly believe my senses. An English
+lady, I judge, and one, who from her manner and address should belong
+to the first class of society, in such a place as this, is indeed
+matter of wonder to me. At the foot of a close in Edinburgh! and at
+this time of the night! Surely it must have been no common reverse of
+fortune that reduced you to this?' I wept, or pretended to do so; on
+which he added, 'Pray, madam, take heart. Tell me what has befallen
+you; and if I can do anything for you, in restoring you to your country
+or your friends, you shall command my interest.'
+
+"I had great need of a friend then, and I thought now was the time to
+secure one. So I began and told him the moving tale I have told you.
+But I soon perceived that I had kept by the naked truth too
+unvarnishedly, and thereby quite overshot my mark. When he learned that
+he was sitting in a wretched corner of an irregular house, with a
+felon, who had so lately been scourged and banished as a swindler and
+impostor, his modest nature took the alarm, and he was shocked, instead
+of being moved with pity. His eye fixed on some of the casual stripes
+on my arm, and from that moment he became restless and impatient to be
+gone. I tried some gentle arts to retain him, but in vain; so, after
+paying both the landlady and me for pleasures he had neither tasted nor
+asked, he took his leave.
+
+"I showed him downstairs; and, just as he turned the corner of the next
+land, a man came rushing violently by him; exchanged looks with him,
+and came running up to me. He appeared in great agitation, and was
+quite out of breath; and, taking my hand in his, we ran upstairs
+together without speaking, and were instantly in the apartment I had
+left, where a stoup of wine still stood untasted. 'Ah, this is
+fortunate!' said my new spark, and helped himself. In the meanwhile, as
+our apartment was a corner one, and looked both east and north, I ran
+to the eastern casement to look after Drummond. Now, note me well: I
+saw him going eastward in his tartans and bonnet, and the gilded hilt
+of his claymore glittering in the moon; and, at the very same time, I
+saw two men, the one in black, and the other likewise in tartans,
+coming towards the steps from the opposite bank, by the foot of the
+loch; and I saw Drummond and they eyeing each other as they passed. I
+kept view of him till he vanished towards Leith Wynd, and by that time
+the two strangers had come close up under our window. This is what I
+wish you to pay particular attention to. I had only lost sight of
+Drummond (who had given me his name and address) for the short space of
+time that we took in running up one pair of short stairs; and during
+that space he had halted a moment, for, when I got my eye on him again,
+he had not crossed the mouth of the next entry, nor proceeded above ten
+or twelve paces, and, at the same time, I saw the two men coming down
+the bank on the opposite side of the loch, at about three hundred
+paces' distance. Both he and they were distinctly in my view, and never
+within speech of each other, until he vanished into one of the wynds
+leading towards the bottom of the High Street, at which precise time
+the two strangers came below my window; so that it was quite dear he
+neither could be one of them nor have any communication with them.
+
+"Yet, mark me again; for, of all things I have ever seen, this was the
+most singular. When I looked down at the two strangers, one of them was
+extremely like Drummond. So like was he that there was not one item in
+dress, form, feature, nor voice, by which I could distinguish the one
+from the other. I was certain it was not he, because I had seen the one
+going and the other approaching at the same time, and my impression at
+the moment was that I looked upon some spirit, or demon, in his
+likeness. I felt a chillness creep all round my heart, my knees
+tottered, and, withdrawing my head from the open casement that lay in
+the dark shade, I said to the man who was with me, 'Good God, what is
+this?'
+
+"'What is it, my dear?' said he, as much alarmed as I was.
+
+"'As I live, there stands an apparition!' said I.
+
+"He was not so much afraid when he heard me say so, and, peeping
+cautiously out, he looked and listened awhile, and then, drawing back,
+he said in a whisper, 'They are both living men, and one of them is he
+I passed at the corner.'
+
+"'That he is not,' said I, emphatically. 'To that I will make oath.'
+
+"He smiled and shook his head, and then added, 'I never then saw a man
+before, whom I could not know again, particularly if he was the very
+last I had seen. But what matters it whether it be or not? As it is no
+concern of ours, let us sit down and enjoy ourselves.'
+
+'But it does matter a very great deal with me, sir,' said I. 'Bless me,
+my head is giddy--my breath quite gone, and I feel as if I were
+surrounded with fiends. Who are you, sir?'
+
+'You shall know that ere we two part, my love,'  said he. 'I cannot
+conceive why the return of this young gentleman to the spot he so
+lately left should discompose you. I suppose he got a glance of you as
+he passed, and has returned to look after you, and that is the whole
+secret of the matter.'
+
+"'If you will be so civil as to walk out and join him then, it will
+oblige me hugely,' said I, 'for I never in my life experienced such
+boding apprehensions of evil company. I cannot conceive how you should
+come up here without asking my permission. Will it please you to be
+gone, sir?' I was within an ace of prevailing. He took out his purse--I
+need not say more--I was bribed to let him remain. Ah, had I kept my
+frail resolution of dismissing him at that moment, what a world of
+shame and misery had been evited! But that, though uppermost still in
+my mind, has nothing ado here.
+
+"When I peeped over again, the two men were disputing in a whisper, the
+one of them in violent agitation and terror, and the other upbraiding
+him, and urging him on to some desperate act. At length I heard the
+young man in the Highland garb say indignantly, 'Hush, recreant! It is
+God's work which you are commissioned to execute, and it must be done.
+But, if you positively decline it, I will do it myself, and do you
+beware of the consequences.'
+
+"'Oh, I will, I will!' cried the other in black clothes, in a wretched
+beseeching tone. 'You shall instruct me in this, as in all things else.'
+
+"I thought all this while I was closely concealed from them, and
+wondered not a little when he in tartans gave me a sly nod, as much as
+to say, 'What do you think of this?' or, 'Take note of what you see,'
+or something to that effect; from which I perceived that, whatever he
+was about, he did not wish it to be kept a secret. For all that, I was
+impressed with a terror and anxiety that I could not overcome, but it
+only made me mark every event with the more intense curiosity. The
+Highlander, whom I still could not help regarding as the evil genius of
+Thomas Drummond, performed every action as with the quickness of
+thought. He concealed the youth in black in a narrow entry, a little to
+the westward of my windows, and, as he was leading him across the
+moonlight green by the shoulder, I perceived, for the first time, that
+both of them were armed with rapiers. He pushed him without resistance
+into the dark shaded close, made another signal to me, and hasted up
+the close to Lucky Sudds' door. The city and the morning were so still
+that I heard every word that was uttered, on putting my head out a
+little. He knocked at the door sharply, and, after waiting a
+considerable space, the bolt was drawn, and the door, as I conceived,
+edged up as far as the massy chain would let it. 'Is young Dalcastle
+still in the house?' said he sharply.
+
+"I did not hear the answer, but I heard him say, shortly after, 'If he
+is, pray tell him to speak with me for a few minutes.' He then withdrew
+from the door, and came slowly down the close, in a lingering manner,
+looking oft behind him. Dalcastle came out; advanced a few steps after
+him, and then stood still, as if hesitating whether or not he should
+call out a friend to accompany him; and that instant the door behind
+him was closed, chained, and the iron bolt drawn; on hearing of which,
+he followed his adversary without further hesitation. As he passed
+below my window, I heard him say, 'I beseech you, Tom, let us do
+nothing in this matter rashly'; but I could not hear the answer of the
+other, who had turned the corner.
+
+"I roused up my drowsy companion, who was leaning on the bed, and we
+both looked together from the north window. We were in the shade, but
+the moon shone full on the two young gentlemen. Young Dalcastle was
+visibly the worse of liquor, and, his back being turned towards us, he
+said something to the other which I could not make out, although he
+spoke a considerable time, and, from his tones and gestures, appeared
+to be reasoning.
+
+"When he had done, the tall young man in the tartans drew his sword,
+and, his face being straight to us, we heard him say distinctly, 'No
+more words about it, George, if you please; but if you be a man, as I
+take you to be, draw your sword, and let us settle it here.'
+
+"Dalcastle drew his sword, without changing his attitude; but he spoke
+with more warmth, for we heard his words, 'Think you that I fear you,
+Tom? Be assured, Sir, I would not fear ten of the best of your name, at
+each other's backs: all that I want is to have friends with us to see
+fair play, for, if you close with me, you are a dead man.'
+
+"The other stormed at these words. 'You are a braggart, Sir,' cried he,
+'a wretch--a blot on the cheek of nature--a blight on the Christian
+world--a reprobate--I'll have your soul, Sir. You must play at tennis,
+and put down elect brethren in another world to-morrow.' As he said
+this, he brandished his rapier, exciting Dalcastle to offence. He
+gained his point. The latter, who had previously drawn, advanced upon
+his vapouring and licentious antagonist, and a fierce combat ensued. My
+companion was delighted beyond measure, and I could not keep him from
+exclaiming, loud enough to have been heard, 'That's grand! That's
+excellent!' For me, my heart quaked like an aspen. Young Dalcastle
+either had a decided advantage over his adversary, or else the other
+thought proper to let him have it; for he shifted, and swore, and
+flitted from Dalcastle's thrusts like a shadow, uttering ofttimes a
+sarcastic laugh, that seemed to provoke the other beyond all bearing.
+At one time, he would spring away to a great distance, then advance
+again on young Dalcastle with the swiftness of lightning. But that
+young hero always stood his ground, and repelled the attack: he never
+gave way, although they fought nearly twice round the bleaching green,
+which you know is not a very small one. At length they fought close up
+to the mouth of the dark entry, where the fellow in black stood all
+this while concealed, and then the combatant in tartans closed with his
+antagonist, or pretended to do so; but, the moment they began to
+grapple, he wheeled about, turning Colwan's back towards the entry, and
+then cried out, 'Ah, hell has it! My friend, my friend!'
+
+"That moment the fellow in black rushed from his cover with his drawn
+rapier, and gave the brave young Dalcastle two deadly wounds in the
+back, as quick as arm could thrust, both of which I thought pierced
+through his body. He fell, and, rolling himself on his back, he
+perceived who it was that had slain him thus foully, and said, with a
+dying emphasis, which I never heard equalled, 'oh, dog of hell, it is
+you who has done this!'
+
+"He articulated some more, which I could not hear for other sounds;
+for, the moment that the man in black inflicted the deadly wound, my
+companion called out, 'That's unfair, you rip! That's damnable! to
+strike a brave fellow behind! One at a time, you cowards!' etc., to all
+which the unnatural fiend in the tartans answered with a loud exulting
+laugh; and then, taking the poor paralysed murderer by the bow of the
+arm, he hurried him in the dark entry once more, where I lost sight of
+them for ever."
+
+Before this time Mrs. Logan had risen up; and, when the narrator had
+finished, she was standing with her arms stretched upwards at their
+full length, and her visage turned down, on which were portrayed the
+lines of the most absolute horror. "The dark suspicions of my late
+benefactor have been just, and his last prediction is fulfilled," cried
+she. "The murderer of the accomplished George Colwan has been his own
+brother, set on, there is little doubt, by her who bare them both, and
+her directing angel, the self-justified bigot. Aye, and yonder they
+sit, enjoying the luxuries so dearly purchased, with perfect impunity!
+If the Almighty do not hurl them down, blasted with shame and
+confusion, there is no hope of retribution in this life. And, by His
+might, I will be the agent to accomplish it! Why did the man not pursue
+the foul murderers? Why did he not raise the alarm, and call the watch?"
+
+"He? The wretch! He durst not move from the shelter he had obtained.
+No, not for the soul of him. He was pursued for his life, at the moment
+when he first flew into my arms. But I did not know it;  no, I did not
+then know him. May the curse of heaven, and the blight of hell, settle
+on the detestable wretch! He pursue for the sake of justice! No; his
+efforts have all been for evil, but never for good. But I raised the
+alarm; miserable and degraded as I was, I pursued and raised the watch
+myself Have you not heard the name of Bell Calvert coupled with that
+hideous and mysterious affair?"
+
+"Yes, I have. In secret often I have heard it. But how came it that you
+could never be found? How came it that you never appeared in defence of
+the Honourable Thomas Drummond; you, the only person who could have
+justified him?"
+
+"I could not, for I then fell under the power and guidance of a wretch
+who durst not for the soul of him be brought forward in the affair.
+And, what was worse, his evidence would have overborne mine, for he
+would have sworn that the man who called out and fought Colwan was the
+same he met leaving my apartment, and there was an end of it. And,
+moreover, it is well known that this same man--this wretch of whom I
+speak, never mistook one man for another in his life, which makes the
+mystery of the likeness between this incendiary and Drummond the more
+extraordinary."
+
+"If it was Drummond, after all that you have asserted, then are my
+surmises still wrong."
+
+"There is nothing of which I can be more certain than that it was not
+Drummond. We have nothing on earth but our senses to depend upon. If
+these deceive us, what are we to do? I own I cannot account for it; nor
+ever shall be able to account for it as long as I live."
+
+"Could you know the man in black, if you saw him again?"
+
+"I think I could, if I saw him walk or run: his gait was very
+particular. He walked as if he had been flat-soled, and his legs made
+of steel, without any joints in his feet or ankles."
+
+"The very same! The very same! The very same! Pray will you take a few
+days' journey into the country with me, to look at such a man?"
+
+"You have preserved my life, and for you I will do anything. I will
+accompany you with pleasure: and I think I can say that I will know
+him, for his form left an impression on my heart not soon to be
+effaced. But of this I am sure that my unworthy companion will
+recognize him, and that he will be able to swear to his identity every
+day as long as he lives."
+
+"Where is he? Where is he? Oh! Mrs. Calvert, where is he?"
+
+"Where is he? He is the wretch whom you heard giving me up to the
+death; who, after experiencing every mark of affection that a poor
+ruined being could confer, and after committing a thousand atrocities
+of which she was ignorant, became an informer to save his diabolical
+life, and attempted to offer up mine as a sacrifice for all. We will go
+by ourselves first, and I will tell you if it is necessary to send any
+farther."
+
+The two dames, the very next morning, dressed themselves like country
+goodwives, and, hiring two stout ponies furnished with pillions, they
+took their journey westward, and the second evening after leaving
+Edinburgh they arrived at the village about two miles below Dalcastle,
+where they alighted. But Mrs. Logan, being anxious to have Mrs.
+Calvert's judgment, without either hint or preparation, took care not
+to mention that they were so near to the end of their journey. In
+conformity with this plan, she said, after they had sat a while:
+"Heigh-ho, but I am weary! What, suppose we should rest a day here
+before we proceed farther on our journey?"
+
+Mrs. Calvert was leaning on the casement and looking out when her
+companion addressed these words to her, and by far too much engaged to
+return any answer, for her eyes were riveted on two young men who
+approached from the farther end of the village; and at length, turning
+round her head, she said, with the most intense interest, "Proceed
+farther on our journey, did you say? That we need not do; for, as I
+live, here comes the very man!"
+
+Mrs. Logan ran to the window, and, behold, there was indeed Robert
+Wringhim Colwan (now the Laird of Dalcastle) coming forward almost
+below their window, walking arm in arm with another young man; and, as
+the two passed, the latter looked up and made a sly signal to the two
+dames, biting his lip, winking with his left eye, and nodding his head.
+Mrs. Calvert was astonished at this recognizance, the young man's
+former companion having made exactly such another signal on the night
+of the duel, by the light of the moon; and it struck her, moreover,
+that she had somewhere seen this young man's face before. She looked
+after him, and he winked over his shoulder to her; but she was
+prevented from returning his salute by her companion, who uttered a
+loud cry, between a groan and shriek, and fell down on the floor with a
+rumble like a wall that had suddenly been undermined. She had fainted
+quite away, and required all her companion's attention during the
+remainder of the evening, for she had scarcely ever well recovered out
+of one fit before she fell into another, and in the short intervals she
+raved like one distracted or in a dream. After falling into a sound
+sleep by night, she recovered her equanimity, and the two began to
+converse seriously on what they had seen. Mrs. Calvert averred that the
+young man who passed next to the window was the very man who stabbed
+George Colwan in the back, and she said she was willing to take her
+oath on it at any time when required, and was certain, if the wretch
+Ridsley saw him, that he would make oath to the same purport, for that
+his walk was so peculiar no one of common discernment could mistake it.
+
+Mrs. Logan was in great agitation, and said: "It is what I have
+suspected all along, and what I am sure my late master and benefactor
+was persuaded of, and the horror of such an idea cut short his days.
+That wretch, Mrs. Calvert, is the born brother of him he murdered, sons
+of the same mother they were, whether or not of the same father, the
+Lord only knows. But, Oh, Mrs. Calvert, that is not the main thing that
+has discomposed me, and shaken my nerves to pieces at this time. Who do
+you think the young man was who walked in his company to-night?"
+
+"I cannot for my life recollect, but am convinced I have seen the same
+fine form and face before."
+
+"And did not he seem to know us, Mrs. Calvert? You who are able to
+recollect things as they happened, did he not seem to recollect us, and
+make signs to that effect?"
+
+"He did, indeed, and apparently with great good humour."
+
+"Oh, Mrs Calvert, hold me, else I shall fall into hysterics again! Who
+is he? Who is he? Tell me who you suppose he is, for I cannot say my
+own thought."
+
+"On my life, I cannot remember."
+
+"Did you note the appearance of the young gentleman you saw slain that
+night? Do you recollect aught of the appearance of my young master,
+George Colwan?"
+
+Mrs. Calvert sat silent, and stared the other mildly in the face. Their
+looks encountered, and there was an unearthly amazement that gleamed
+from each, which, meeting together, caught real fire, and returned the
+flame to their heated imaginations, till the two associates became like
+two statues, with their hands spread, their eyes fixed, and their chops
+fallen down upon their bosoms. An old woman who kept the lodging-house,
+having been called in before when Mrs. Logan was faintish, chanced to
+enter at this crisis with some cordial; and, seeing the state of her
+lodgers, she caught the infection, and fell into the same rigid and
+statue-like appearance. No scene more striking was ever exhibited; and
+if Mrs. Calvert had not resumed strength of mind to speak, and break
+the spell, it is impossible to say how long it might have continued.
+"It is he, I believe," said she, uttering the words as it were
+inwardly. "It can be none other but he. But, no, it is impossible! I
+saw him stabbed through and through the heart; I saw him roll backward
+on the green in his own blood, utter his last words, and groan away his
+soul. Yet, if it is not he, who can it be?"
+
+"It is he!" cried Mrs. Logan, hysterically.
+
+"Yes, yes, it is he!" cried the landlady, in unison.
+
+"It is who?" said Mrs. Calvert. "Whom do you mean, mistress?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know! I don't know! I was affrighted."
+
+"Hold your peace then till you recover your senses, and tell me, if you
+can, who that young gentleman is who keeps company with the new Laird
+of Dalcastle?"
+
+"Oh, it is he! It is he!" screamed Mrs. Logan, wringing her hands.
+
+"Oh, it is he! It is he!" cried the landlady, wringing hers.
+
+Mrs. Calvert turned the latter gently and civilly out of the apartment,
+observing that there seemed to be some infection in the air of the
+room, and she would be wise for herself to keep out of it.
+
+The two dames had a restless and hideous night. Sleep came not to their
+relief, for their conversation was wholly about the dead, who seemed to
+be alive, and their minds were wandering and groping in a chaos of
+mystery. "Did you attend to his corpse, and know that he positively
+died and was buried?" said Mrs. Calvert.
+
+"Oh, yes, from the moment that his fair but mangled corpse was brought
+home, I attended it till that when it was screwed in the coffin. I
+washed the long stripes of blood from his lifeless form, on both sides
+of the body. I bathed the livid wound that passed through his generous
+and gentle heart. There was one through the flesh of his left side too,
+which had bled most outwardly of them all. I bathed them, and bandaged
+them up with wax and perfumed ointment, but still the blood oozed
+through all, so that when he was laid in the coffin he was like one
+newly murdered. My brave, my generous young master. He was always as a
+son to me, and no son was ever more kind or more respectful to a
+mother. But he was butchered--he was cut off from the earth ere he had
+well reached to manhood--most barbarously and unfairly slain. And how
+is it, how can it be, that we again see him here, walking arm in arm
+with his murderer?"
+
+"The thing cannot be, Mrs. Logan. It is a phantasy of our disturbed
+imaginations, therefore let us compose ourselves till we investigate
+this matter farther."
+
+"It cannot be in nature, that is quite clear," said Mrs. Logan. "Yet
+how it should be that I should think so--I who knew and nursed him from
+his infancy--there lies the paradox. As you said once before, we have
+nothing but our senses to depend on, and, if you and I believe that we
+see a person, why, we do see him. Whose word, or whose reasoning can
+convince us against our own senses? We will disguise ourselves as poor
+women selling a few country wares, and we will go up to the Hall, and
+see what is to see, and hear what we can hear, for this is a weighty
+business in which we are engaged, namely, to turn the vengeance of the
+law upon an unnatural monster; and we will further learn, if we can,
+who this is that accompanies him."
+
+Mrs. Calvert acquiesced, and the two dames took their way to Dalcastle,
+with baskets well furnished with trifles. They did not take the common
+path from the village, but went about, and approached the mansion by a
+different way. But it seemed as if some overruling power ordered it
+that they should miss no chance of attaining the information they
+wanted. For ere ever they came within half a mile of Dalcastle they
+perceived the two youths coming as to meet them, on the same path. The
+road leading from Dalcastle towards the north-east, as all the country
+knows, goes along a dark bank of brush-wood called the Bogle-heuch. It
+was by this track that the two women were going, and, when they
+perceived the two gentlemen meeting them, they turned back, and, the
+moment they were out of their sight, they concealed themselves in a
+thicket close by the road. They did this because Mrs. Logan was
+terrified for being discovered, and because they wished to reconnoitre
+without being seen. Mrs. Calvert now charged her, whatever she saw, or
+whatever she heard, to put on a resolution, and support it, for if she
+fainted there and was discovered, what was to become of her!
+
+The two young men came on, in earnest and vehement conversation; but
+the subject they were on was a terrible one, and hardly fit to be
+repeated in the face of a Christian community. Wringhim was disputing
+the boundlessness of the true Christian's freedom, and expressing
+doubts that, chosen as he knew he was from all eternity, still it might
+be possible for him to commit acts that would exclude him from the
+limits of the covenant. The other argued, with mighty fluency, that the
+thing was utterly impossible, and altogether inconsistent with eternal
+predestination. The arguments of the latter prevailed, and the laird
+was driven to sullen silence. But, to the women's utter surprise, as
+the conquering disputant passed, he made a signal of recognizance
+through the brambles to them, as formerly, and, that he might expose
+his associate fully, and in his true colours, he led him back, wards
+and forwards by the women more than twenty times, making him to confess
+both the crimes that he had done and those he had in contemplation. At
+length he said to him: "Assuredly I saw some strolling vagrant women on
+this walk, my dear friend: I wish we could find them, for there is
+little doubt that they are concealed here in your woods."
+
+"I wish we could find them," answered Wringhim. "We would have fine
+sport maltreating and abusing them."
+
+"That we should, that we should! Now tell me, Robert, if you found a
+malevolent woman, the latent enemy of your prosperity, lurking in these
+woods to betray you, what would you inflict on her?"
+
+"I would tear her to pieces with my dogs, and feed them with her flesh.
+Oh, my dear friend, there is an old strumpet who lived with my
+unnatural father, whom I hold in such utter detestation that I stand
+constantly in dread of her, and would sacrifice the half of my estate
+to shed her blood!"
+
+"What will you give me if I will put her in your power, and give you a
+fair and genuine excuse for making away with her; one for which you
+shall answer at the bar, here or hereafter?"
+
+"I should like to see the vile hag put down. She is in possession of
+the family plate, that is mine by right, as well as a thousand valuable
+relics, and great riches besides, all of which the old profligate
+gifted shamefully away. And it is said, besides all these, that she has
+sworn my destruction."
+
+"She has, she has. But I see not how she can accomplish that, seeing
+the deed was done so suddenly, and in the silence of the night."
+
+"It was said there were some onlookers. But where shall we find that
+disgraceful Miss Logan?"
+
+"I will show you her by and by. But will you then consent to the other
+meritorious deed? Come, be a man, and throw away scruples."
+
+"If you can convince me that the promise is binding I will."
+
+"Then step this way, till I give you a piece of information."
+
+They walked a little way out of hearing, but went not out of sight;
+therefore, though the women were in a terrible quandary, they durst not
+stir, for they had some hopes that this extraordinary person was on a
+mission of the same sort with themselves, knew of them, and was going
+to make use of their testimony. Mrs. Logan was several times on the
+point of falling into a swoon, so much did the appearance of the young
+man impress her, until her associate covered her face that she might
+listen without embarrassment. But this latter dialogue roused different
+feelings within them; namely, those arising from imminent personal
+danger. They saw his waggish associate point out the place of their
+concealment to Wringhim, who came towards them, out of curiosity to see
+what his friend meant by what he believed to be a joke, manifestly
+without crediting it in the least degree. When he came running away,
+the other called after him: "If she is too hard for you, call to me."
+As he said this, he hasted out of sight, in the contrary direction,
+apparently much delighted with the joke.
+
+Wringhim came rushing through the thicket impetuously, to the very spot
+where Mrs. Logan lay squatted. She held the wrapping close about her
+head, but he tore it off and discovered her. "The curse of God be on
+thee!" said he. "What fiend has brought thee here, and for what purpose
+art thou come? But, whatever has brought thee, I have thee!" and with
+that he seized her by the throat. The two women, when they heard what
+jeopardy they were in from such a wretch, had squatted among the
+underwood at a small distance from each other, so that he had never
+observed Mrs. Calvert; but, no sooner had he seized her benefactor,
+than, like a wild cat, she sprung out of the thicket, and had both
+hands fixed at his throat, one of them twisted in his stock, in a
+twinkling. She brought him back-over among the brushwood, and the two,
+fixing on him like two harpies, mastered him with case. Then indeed was
+he woefully beset. He deemed for a while that his friend was at his
+back, and, turning his bloodshot eyes towards the path, he attempted to
+call; but there was no friend there, and the women cut short his cries
+by another twist of his stock. "Now, gallant and rightful Laird of
+Dalcastle," said Mrs. Logan, "what hast thou to say for thyself? Lay
+thy account to dree the weird thou hast so well earned. Now shalt thou
+suffer due penance for murdering thy brave and only brother."
+
+"Thou liest, thou hag of the pit! I touched not my brother's life."
+
+"I saw thee do it with these eyes that now look thee in the face; ay,
+when his back was to thee, too, and while he was hotly engaged with thy
+friend," said Mrs. Calvert.
+
+"I heard thee confess it again and again this same hour," said Mrs.
+Logan.
+
+"Ay, and so did I," said her companion. "Murder will out, though the
+Almighty should lend hearing to the ears of the willow, and speech to
+the seven tongues of the woodriff."
+
+"You are liars and witches!" said he, foaming with rage, "and creatures
+fitted from the beginning for eternal destruction. I'll have your bones
+and your blood sacrificed on your cursed altars! O Gil-Martin!
+Gil-Martin! Where art thou now? Here, here is the proper food for
+blessed vengeance! Hilloa!"
+
+There was no friend, no Gil-Martin there to hear or assist him: he was
+in the two women's mercy, but they used it with moderation. They
+mocked, they tormented, and they threatened him; but, finally, after
+putting him in great terror, they bound his hands behind his back, and
+his feet fast with long straps of garters which they chanced to have in
+their baskets, to prevent him from pursuing them till they were out of
+his reach. As they left him, which they did in the middle of the path,
+Mrs. Calvert said: "We could easily put an end to thy sinful life, but
+our hands shall be free of thy blood. Nevertheless thou art still in
+our power, and the vengeance of thy country shall overtake thee, thou
+mean and cowardly murderer, ay, and that more suddenly than thou art
+aware!"
+
+The women posted to Edinburgh; and as they put themselves under the
+protection of an English merchant, who was journeying thither with
+twenty horses laden, and armed servants, so they had scarcely any
+conversation on the road. When they arrived at Mrs. Logan's house, then
+they spoke of what they had seen and heard, and agreed that they had
+sufficient proof to condemn young Wringhim, who they thought richly
+deserved the severest doom of the law.
+
+"I never in my life saw any human being," said Mrs. Calvert, "whom I
+thought so like a fiend. If a demon could inherit flesh and blood, that
+youth is precisely such a being as I could conceive that demon to be.
+The depth and the malignity of his eye is hideous. His breath is like
+the airs from a charnel house, and his flesh seems fading from his
+bones, as if the worm that never dies were gnawing it away already."
+
+"He was always repulsive, and every way repulsive," said the other,
+"but he is now indeed altered greatly to the worse. While we were
+hand-fasting him, I felt his body to be feeble and emaciated; but yet I
+know him to be so puffed up with spiritual pride that I believe he
+weens every one of his actions justified before God, and, instead of
+having stings of conscience for these, he takes great merit to himself
+in having effected them. Still my thoughts are less about him than the
+extraordinary being who accompanies him. He does everything with so
+much ease and indifference, so much velocity and effect, that all
+bespeak him an adept in wickedness. The likeness to my late hapless
+young master is so striking that I can hardly believe it to be a chance
+model; and I think he imitates him in everything, for some purpose or
+some effect on his sinful associate. Do you know that he is so like in
+every lineament, look, and gesture, that, against the clearest light of
+reason, I cannot in my mind separate the one from the other, and have a
+certain indefinable expression on my mind that they are one and the
+same being, or that the one was a prototype of the other."
+
+"If there is an earthly crime," said Mrs. Calvert, "for the due
+punishment of which the Almighty may be supposed to subvert the order
+of nature, it is fratricide. But tell me, dear friend, did you remark
+to what the subtile and hellish villain was endeavouring to prompt the
+assassin?"
+
+"No, I could not comprehend it. My senses were altogether so bewildered
+that I thought they had combined to deceive me, and I gave them no
+credit."
+
+"Then bear me: I am almost certain he was using every persuasion to
+induce him to make away with his mother; and I likewise conceive that I
+heard the incendiary give his consent!"
+
+"This is dreadful. Let us speak and think no more about it, till we see
+the issue. In the meantime, let us do that which is our bounden
+duty--go and divulge all that we know relating to this foul murder."
+
+Accordingly the two women went to Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie, the
+Lord justice Clerk (who was, I think, either uncle or grandfather to
+young Drummond, who was outlawed and obliged to fly his country on
+account of Colwan's death), and to that gentleman they related every
+circumstance of what they had seen and heard. He examined Calvert very
+minutely, and seemed deeply interested in her evidence--said he knew
+she was relating the truth, and, in testimony of it, brought a letter
+of young Drummond's from his desk, wherein that young gentleman, after
+protesting his innocence in the most forcible terms, confessed having
+been with such a woman in such a house, after leaving the company of
+his friends; and that, on going home, Sir Thomas's servant had let him
+in, in the dark, and from these circumstances he found it impossible to
+prove an alibi. He begged of his relative, if ever an opportunity
+offered, to do his endeavour to clear up that mystery, and remove the
+horrid stigma from his name in his country, and among his kin, of
+having stabbed a friend behind his back.
+
+Lord Craigie, therefore, directed the two women to the proper
+authorities, and, after hearing their evidence there, it was judged
+proper to apprehend the present Laird of Dalcastle, and bring him to
+his trial. But, before that, they sent the prisoner in the Tolbooth, he
+who had seen the whole transaction along with Mrs. Calvert, to take a
+view of Wringhim privately; and, his discrimination being so well known
+as to be proverbial all over the land, they determined secretly to be
+ruled by his report. They accordingly sent him on a pretended mission
+of legality to Dalcastle, with orders to see and speak with the
+proprietor, without giving him a hint what was wanted. On his return,
+they examined him, and he told them that he found all things at the
+place in utter confusion and dismay; that the lady of the place was
+missing, and could not be found, dead or alive. On being asked if he
+had ever seen the proprietor before, he looked astounded and unwilling
+to answer. But it came out that he had; and that he had once seen him
+kill a man on such a spot at such an hour.
+
+Officers were then dispatched, without delay, to apprehend the monster,
+and bring him to justice. On these going to the mansion, and inquiring
+for him, they were told he was at home; on which they stationed guards,
+and searched all the premises, but he was not to be found. It was in
+vain that they overturned beds, raised floors, and broke open closets:
+Robert Wringhim Colwan was lost once and for ever. His mother also was
+lost; and strong suspicions attached to some of the farmers and house
+servants to whom she was obnoxious, relating to her disappearance.
+
+The Honourable Thomas Drummond became a distinguished officer in the
+Austrian service, and died in the memorable year for Scotland, 1715;
+and this is all with which history, justiciary records, and tradition,
+furnish me relating to these matters.
+
+I have now the pleasure of presenting my readers with an original
+document of a most singular nature, and preserved for their perusal in
+a still more singular manner. I offer no remarks on it, and make as few
+additions to it, leaving everyone to judge for himself. We have heard
+much of the rage of fanaticism in former days, but nothing to this.
+
+
+
+
+  The Private Memoirs and
+  Confessions of a Sinner
+  WRITTEN BY HIMSELF
+
+
+
+PRIVATE MEMOIRS AND CONFESSIONS OF A SINNER
+
+
+My life has been a life of trouble and turmoil of change and
+vicissitude; of anger and exultation; of sorrow and of vengeance. My
+sorrows have all been for a slighted gospel, and my vengeance has been
+wreaked on its adversaries. Therefore, in the might of Heaven, I will
+sit down and write: I will let the wicked of this world know what I
+have done in the faith of the promises, and justification by grace,
+that they may read and tremble, and bless their gods of silver and gold
+that the minister of Heaven was removed from their sphere before their
+blood was mingled with their sacrifices.
+
+I was born an outcast in the world, in which I was destined to act so
+conspicuous a part. My mother was a burning and a shining light, in the
+community of Scottish worthies, and in the days of her virginity had
+suffered much in the persecution of the saints. But it so pleased
+Heaven that, as a trial of her faith, she was married to one of the
+wicked; a man all over spotted with the leprosy of sin. As well might
+they have conjoined fire and water together, in hopes that they would
+consort and amalgamate, as purity and corruption: She fled from his
+embraces the first night after their marriage, and from that time forth
+his iniquities so galled her upright heart that she quitted his society
+altogether, keeping her own apartments in the same house with him.
+
+I was the second son of this unhappy marriage, and, ere ever I was
+born, my father according to the flesh disclaimed all relation or
+connection with me, and all interest in me, save what the law compelled
+him to take, which was to grant me a scanty maintenance; and had it not
+been for a faithful minister of the gospel, my mother's early
+instructor, I should have remained an outcast from the church visible.
+He took pity on me, admitting me not only into that, but into the bosom
+of his own household and ministry also, and to him am I indebted, under
+Heaven, for the high conceptions and glorious discernment between good
+and evil, right and wrong, which I attained even at an early age. It
+was he who directed my studies aright, both in the learning of the
+ancient fathers and the doctrines of the reformed church, and designed
+me for his assistant and successor in the holy office. I missed no
+opportunity of perfecting myself particularly in all the minute points
+of theology in which my reverend father and mother took great delight;
+but at length I acquired so much skill that I astonished my teachers,
+and made them gaze at one another. I remember that it was the custom,
+in my patron's house, to ask questions of the Single Catechism round
+every Sabbath night. He asked the first, my mother the second, and so
+on, everyone saying the question asked and then asking the next. It
+fell to my mother to ask Effectual Calling at me. I said the answer
+with propriety and emphasis. "Now, madam," added I, "my question to you
+is: What is Ineffectual Calling?"
+
+"Ineffectual Calling? There is no such thing, Robert," said she.
+
+"But there is, madam," said I, and that answer proves how much you say
+these fundamental precepts by rote, and without any consideration.
+Ineffectual Calling is the outward call of the gospel without any
+effect on the hearts of unregenerated and impenitent sinners. Have not
+all these the same calls, warnings, doctrines, and reproofs, that we
+have? And is not this ineffectual Calling? Has not Ardinferry the same?
+Has not Patrick M'Lure the same? Has not the Laird of Dalcastle and his
+reprobate heir the same? And will any tell me that this is not
+Ineffectual Calling?"
+
+"What a wonderful boy he is!" said my mother.
+
+"I'm feared he turn out to be a conceited gowk," said old Barnet, the
+minister's man.
+
+"No," said my pastor, and father (as I shall henceforth denominate
+him). "No, Barnet, he is a wonderful boy; and no marvel, for I have
+prayed for these talents to be bestowed on him from his infancy: and do
+you think that Heaven would refuse a prayer so disinterested? No, it is
+impossible. But my dread is, madam," continued he, turning to my
+mother, "that he is yet in the bond of iniquity."
+
+"God forbid!" said my mother.
+
+"I have struggled with the Almighty long and hard," continued he; "but
+have as yet no certain token of acceptance in his behalf, I have indeed
+fought a hard fight, but have been repulsed by him who hath seldom
+refused my request; although I cited his own words against him, and
+endeavoured to hold him at his promise, he hath so many turnings in the
+supremacy of his power, that I have been rejected. How dreadful is it
+to think of our darling being still without the pale of the covenant!
+But I have vowed a vow, and in that there is hope."
+
+My heart quaked with terror when I thought of being still living in a
+state of reprobation, subjected to the awful issues of death, judgment,
+and eternal misery, by the slightest accident or casualty; and I set
+about the duty of prayer myself with the utmost earnestness. I prayed
+three times every day, and seven times on the Sabbath; but, the more
+frequently and fervently that I prayed, I sinned still the more. About
+this time, and for a long period afterwards, amounting to several
+years, I lived in a hopeless and deplorable state of mind; for I said
+to myself, "If my name is not written in the book of life from all
+eternity, it is in vain for me to presume that either vows or prayers
+of mine, or those of all mankind combined, can ever procure its
+insertion now." I had come under many vows, most solemnly taken, every
+one of which I had broken; and I saw with the intensity of juvenile
+grief that there was no hope for me. I went on sinning every hour, and
+all the while most strenuously warring against sin, and repenting of
+every one transgression as soon after the commission of it as I got
+leisure to think. But, oh, what a wretched state this unregenerated
+state is, in which every effort after righteousness only aggravates our
+offences! I found it vanity to contend; for, after communing with my
+heart, the conclusion was as follows: "If I could repent me of all my
+sins, and shed tears of blood for them, still have I not a load of
+original transgression pressing on me that is enough to crush me to the
+lowest hell. I may be angry with my first parents for having sinned,
+but how I shall repent me of their sin is beyond what I am able to
+comprehend."
+
+Still, in those days of depravity and corruption, I had some of those
+principles implanted in my mind which were afterwards to spring up with
+such amazing fertility among the heroes of the faith and the promises.
+In particular, I felt great indignation against all the wicked of this
+world, and often wished for the means of ridding it of such a noxious
+burden. I liked John Barnet, my reverend father's serving-man,
+extremely ill; but, from a supposition that he might be one of the
+justified, I refrained from doing him any injury. He gave always his
+word against me, and when we were by ourselves, in the barn or the
+fields, he rated me with such severity for my faults that my heart
+could brook it no longer. He discovered some notorious lies that I had
+framed, and taxed me with them in such a manner that I could in no wise
+get off. My cheek burnt, with offence, rather than shame; and he,
+thinking he had got the mastery of me, exulted over me most
+unmercifully, telling me I was a selfish and conceited blackguard, who
+made great pretences towards religious devotion to cloak a disposition
+tainted with deceit, and that it would not much astonish him if I
+brought myself to the gallows.
+
+I gathered some courage from his over-severity, and answered him as
+follows: "Who made thee a judge of the actions or dispositions of the
+Almighty's creatures--thou who art a worm and no man in his sight? How
+it befits thee to deal out judgments and anathemas! Hath he not made
+one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour, as in the case with
+myself and thee? Hath he not builded his stories in the heavens, and
+laid the foundations thereof in the earth, and how can a being like
+thee judge between good and evil, that are both subjected to the
+workings of his hand; or of the opposing principles in the soul of man,
+correcting, modifying, and refining one another?"
+
+I said this with that strong display of fervour for which I was
+remarkable at my years, and expected old Barnet to be utterly
+confounded; but he only shook his head, and, with the most provoking
+grin, said: "There he goes! Sickan sublime and ridiculous sophistry I
+never heard come out of another mouth but ane. There needs nae aiths to
+be sworn afore the session wha is your father, young goodman. I ne'er,
+for my part, saw a son sac like a dad, sin' my een first opened." With
+that he went away, saying with an ill-natured wince: "You made to
+honour and me to dishonour! Dirty bow-kail thing that thou be'st!"
+
+"I will have the old rascal on the hip for this, if I live," thought I.
+So I went and asked my mother if John was a righteous man. She could
+not tell, but supposed he was, and therefore I got no encouragement
+from her. I went next to my reverend father, and inquired his opinion,
+expecting as little from that quarter. He knew the elect as it were by
+instinct, and could have told you of all those in his own, and some
+neighbouring parishes, who were born within the boundaries of the
+covenant of promise, and who were not.
+
+"I keep a good deal in company with your servant, old Barnet, father,"
+said I.
+
+"You do, boy, you do, I see," said he.
+
+"I wish I may not keep too much in his company," said I, "not knowing
+what kind of society I am in. Is John a good man, father?"
+
+"Why, boy, he is but so so. A morally good man John is, but very little
+of the leaven of true righteousness, which is faith, within. I am
+afraid old Barnet, with all his stock of morality, will be a castaway."
+
+My heart was greatly cheered by this remark; and I sighed very deeply,
+and hung my head to one side. The worthy father observed me, and
+inquired the cause, when I answered as follows: "How dreadful the
+thought, that I have been going daily in company and fellowship with
+one whose name is written on the red-letter side of the book of life;
+whose body and soul have been, from all eternity, consigned over to
+everlasting destruction, and to whom the blood of the atonement can
+never, never reach! Father, this is an awful thing, and beyond my
+comprehension."
+
+"While we are in the world, we must mix with the inhabitants thereof,"
+said he; "and the stains which adhere to us by reason of this mixture,
+which is unavoidable, shall all be washed away. It is our duty,
+however, to shun the society of wicked men as much as possible, lest we
+partake of their sins, and become sharers with them in punishment.
+John, however, is morally a good man, and may yet get a cast of grace."
+
+"I always thought him a good man till to-day," said I, "when he threw
+out some reflections on your character, so horrible that I quake to
+think of the wickedness and malevolence of his heart. He was rating me
+very impertinently for some supposed fault, which had no being save in
+his own jealous brain, when I attempted to reason him out of his belief
+in the spirit of calm Christian argument. But how do you think he
+answered me? He did so, sir, by twisting his mouth at me, and remarking
+that such sublime and ridiculous sophistry never came out of another
+mouth but one (meaning yours) and that no oath before a kirk session
+was necessary to prove who was my dad, for that he had never seen a son
+so like a father as I was like mine."
+
+"He durst not for his soul's salvation, and for his daily bread, which
+he values much more, say such a word, boy; therefore, take care what
+you assert," said my reverend father.
+
+"He said these very words, and will not deny them, sir," said I.
+
+My reverend father turned about in great wrath and indignation, and
+went away in search of John, but I kept out of the way, and listened at
+a back window; for John was dressing the plot of ground behind the
+house; and I hope it was no sin in me that I did rejoice in the
+dialogue which took place, it being the victory of righteousness over
+error.
+
+"Well, John, this is a fine day for your delving work."
+
+"Ay, it's a tolerable day, sir."
+
+"Are you thankful in heart, John, for such temporal mercies as these?"
+
+"Aw doubt we're a' ower little thankfu', sir, baith for temporal an'
+speeritual mercies; but it isna aye the maist thankfu' heart that maks
+the greatest fraze wi' the tongue."
+
+"I hope there is nothing personal under that remark, John?"
+
+"Gin the bannet fits ony body's head, they're unco welcome to it, sir,
+for me."
+
+"John, I do not approve of these innuendoes. You have an arch malicious
+manner of vending your aphorisms, which the men of the world are too
+apt to read the wrong way, for your dark hints are sure to have one
+very bad meaning."
+
+"Hout na, sir, it's only bad folks that think sac. They find ma bits o'
+gibes come hame to their hearts wi' a kind o' yerk, an' that gars them
+wince."
+
+"That saying is ten times worse than the other, John; it is a manifest
+insult: it is just telling me to my face that you think me a bad man."
+
+"A body canna help his thoughts, sir."
+
+"No, but a man's thoughts are generally formed from observation. Now I
+should like to know, even from the mouth of a misbeliever, what part of
+my conduct warrants such a conclusion."
+
+"Nae particular pairt, sir; I draw a' my conclusions frae the haill o'
+a man's character, an' I'm no that aften far wrong."
+
+"Well, John, and what sort of general character do you suppose mine to
+be?"
+
+"Yours is a Scripture character, sir, an' I'll prove it."
+
+"I hope so, John. Well, which of the Scripture characters do you think
+approximates nearest to my own?"
+
+"Guess, sir, guess; I wish to lead a proof."
+
+"Why, if it be an Old Testament character, I hope it is Melchizedek,
+for at all events you cannot deny there is one point of resemblance: I,
+like him, am a preacher of righteousness. If it be a New Testament
+character, I suppose you mean the Apostle of the Gentiles, of whom I am
+an unworthy representative."
+
+"Na, na, sir, better nor that still, an' fer closer is the resemblance.
+When ye bring me to the point, I maun speak. Ye are the just Pharisee,
+sir, that gaed up wi' the poor publican to pray in the Temple; an'
+ye're acting the very same pairt at this time, an' saying i'  your
+heart, 'God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, an' in nae
+way like this poor misbelieving unregenerate sinner, John Barnet.'"
+
+"I hope I may say so indeed."
+
+"There now! I tauld you how it was! But, d'ye hear, maister. Here
+stands the poor sinner, John Barnet, your beadle an' servantman, wha
+wadna change chances wi' you in the neist world, nor consciences in
+this, for ten times a' that you possess--your justification by faith
+an' awthegither."
+
+"You are extremely audacious and impertinent, John; but the language of
+reprobation cannot affect me: I came only to ask you one question,
+which I desire you to answer candidly. Did you ever say to anyone that
+I was the boy Robert's natural father?"
+
+"Hout na, sir! Ha-ha-ha! Aih, fie, na, sir! I durst-na say that for my
+life. I doubt the black stool, an' the sack gown, or maybe the juggs
+wad hae been my portion had I said sic a thing as that. Hout, hout!
+Fie, fie! Unco-like doings thae for a Melchizedek or a Saint Paul!"
+
+"John, you are a profane old man, and I desire that you will not
+presume to break your jests on me. Tell me, dare you say, or dare you
+think, that I am the natural father of that boy?"
+
+"Ye canna hinder me to think whatever I like, sir, nor can I hinder
+mysel."
+
+"But did you ever say to anyone that he resembled me, and fathered
+himself well enough?"
+
+"I hae said mony a time that he resembled you, sir. Naebody can mistake
+that."
+
+"But, John, there are many natural reasons for such likenesses, besides
+that of consanguinity. They depend much on the thoughts and affections
+of the mother; and it is probable that the mother of this boy, being
+deserted by her worthless husband, having turned her thoughts on me, as
+likely to be her protector, may have caused this striking resemblance."
+
+"Ay, it may be, sir. I coudna say."
+
+"I have known a lady, John, who was delivered of a blackamoor child,
+merely from the circumstance of having got a start by the sudden
+entrance of her negro servant, and not being able to forget him for
+several hours."
+
+"It may be, sir; but I ken this--an' I had been the laird, I wadna hae
+ta'en that story in."
+
+"So, then, John, you positively think, from a casual likeness, that
+this boy is my son?"
+
+"Man's thoughts are vanity, sir; they come unasked, an' gang away
+without a dismissal, an' he canna' help them. I'm neither gaun to say
+that I think he's your son, nor that I think he's no your son: sae ye
+needna pose me nae mair about it."
+
+"Hear then my determination, John. If you do not promise to me, in
+faith and honour, that you never will say, or insinuate such a thing
+again in your life, as that that boy is my natural son, I will take the
+keys of the church from you, and dismiss you from my service."
+
+John pulled out the keys, and dashed them on the gravel at the reverend
+minister's feet. "There are the keys o' your kirk, sir! I hae never had
+muckle mense o' them sin' ye entered the door o't. I hae carried them
+this three and thretty year, but they hae aye been like to burn a hole
+i' my pouch sin' ever they were turned for your admittance. Tak them
+again, an' gie them to wha you will, and muckle gude may he get o'
+them. Auld John may dee a beggar in a hay barn, or at the back of a
+dike, but he sall aye be master o' his ain thoughts an' gie them vent
+or no, as he likes."
+
+He left the manse that day, and I rejoiced in the riddance; for I
+disdained to be kept so much under by one who was in bond of iniquity,
+and of whom there seemed no hope, as he rejoiced in his frowardness,
+and refused to submit to that faithful teacher, his master.
+
+It was about this time that my reverend father preached a sermon, one
+sentence of which affected me most disagreeably. It was to the purport
+that every unrepented sin was productive of a new sin with each breath
+that a man drew; and every one of these new sins added to the catalogue
+in the same manner. I was utterly confounded at the multitude of my
+transgressions; for I was sensible that there were great numbers of
+sins of which I had never been able thoroughly to repent, and these
+momentary ones, by moderate calculation, had, I saw, long ago, amounted
+to a hundred and fifty thousand in the minute, and I saw no end to the
+series of repentances to which I had subjected myself. A life-time was
+nothing to enable me to accomplish the sum, and then being, for
+anything I was certain of, in my state of nature, and the grace of
+repentance withheld from me--what was I to do, or what was to become of
+me? In the meantime, I went on sinning without measure; but I was still
+more troubled about the multitude than the magnitude of my
+transgressions, and the small minute ones puzzled me more than those
+that were more heinous, as the latter had generally some good effects
+in the way of punishing wicked men, froward boys, and deceitful women;
+and I rejoiced, even then in my early youth, at being used as a scourge
+in the hand of the Lord; another Jehu, a Cyrus, or a Nebuchadnezzar.
+
+On the whole, I remember that I got into great confusion relating to my
+sins and repentances, and knew neither where to begin nor how to
+proceed, and often had great fears that I was wholly without Christ,
+and that I would find God a consuming fire to me. I could not help
+running into new sins continually; but then I was mercifully dealt
+with, for I was often made to repent of them most heartily, by reason
+of bodily chastisements received on these delinquencies being
+discovered. I was particularly prone to lying, and I cannot but admire
+the mercy that has freely forgiven me all these juvenile sins. Now that
+I know them all to be blotted out, and that I am an accepted person, I
+may the more freely confess them: the truth is, that one lie always
+paved the way for another, from hour to hour, from day to day, and from
+year to year; so that I found myself constantly involved in a labyrinth
+of deceit, from which it was impossible to extricate myself. If I knew
+a person to be a godly one, I could almost have kissed his feet; but,
+against the carnal portion of mankind, I set my face continually. I
+esteemed the true ministers of the gospel; but the prelatic party, and
+the preachers up of good works I abhorred, and to this hour I account
+them the worst and most heinous of all transgressors.
+
+There was only one boy at Mr. Witch's class who kept always the upper
+hand of me in every part of education. I strove against him from year
+to year, but it was all in vain; for he was a very wicked boy, and I
+was convinced he had dealings with the Devil. Indeed, it was believed
+all over the country that his mother was a witch; and I was at length
+convinced, that it was no human ingenuity that beat me with so much
+ease in the Latin, after I had often sat up a whole night with my
+reverend father, studying my lesson in all its bearings. I often read
+as well and sometimes better than he; but, the moment Mr. Wilson began
+to examine us, my opponent popped up above me. I determined (as I knew
+him for a wicked person, and one of the Devil's handfasted children) to
+be revenged on him, and to humble him by some means or other.
+Accordingly I lost no opportunity of setting the master against him,
+and succeeded several times in getting him severely beaten for faults
+of which he was innocent. I can hardly describe the joy that it gave to
+my heart to see a wicked creature suffering, for, though he deserved it
+not for one thing, he richly deserved it for others. This may be by
+some people accounted a great sin in me; but I deny it, for I did it as
+a duty, and what a man or boy does for the right will never be put into
+the sum of his transgressions.
+
+This boy, whose name was M'Gill, was, at all his leisure hours, engaged
+in drawing profane pictures of beasts, men, women, houses, and trees,
+and, in short, of all things that his eye encountered. These profane
+things the master often smiled at, and admired; therefore I began
+privately to try my hand likewise. I had scarcely tried above once to
+draw the figure of a man, ere I conceived that I had hit the very
+features of Mr. Wilson. They were so particular that they could not be
+easily mistaken, and I was so tickled and pleased with the droll
+likeness that I had drawn that I laughed immoderately at it. I tried no
+other figure but this; and I tried it in every situation in which a man
+and a schoolmaster could be placed. I often wrought for hours together
+at this likeness, nor was it long before I made myself so much master
+of the outline that I could have drawn it in any situation whatever,
+almost off hand. I then took M'Gill's account book of algebra home with
+me, and at my leisure put down a number of gross caricatures of Mr.
+Wilson here and there, several of them in situations notoriously
+ludicrous. I waited the discovery of this treasure with great
+impatience; but the book, chancing to be one that M'Gill was not using,
+I saw it might be long enough before I enjoyed the consummation of my
+grand scheme: therefore, with all the ingenuity I was master of, I
+brought it before our dominie's eye. But never shall I forget the rage
+that gleamed in the tyrant's phiz! I was actually terrified to look at
+him, and trembled at his voice. M'Gill was called upon, and examined
+relating to the obnoxious figures. He denied flatly that any of them
+were of his doing. But the master inquiring at him whose they were, he
+could not tell, but affirmed it to be some trick. Mr. Wilson at one
+time began, as I thought, to hesitate; but the evidence was so strong
+against M'Gill that at length his solemn asseverations of innocence
+only proved an aggravation of his crime. There was not one in the
+school who had ever been known to draw a figure but himself, and on him
+fell the whole weight of the tyrant's vengeance. It was dreadful; and I
+was once in hopes that he would not leave life in the culprit. He,
+however, left the school for several months, refusing to return to be
+subjected to punishment for the faults of others, and I stood king of
+the class.
+
+Matters, were at last made up between M'Gill's parents and the
+schoolmaster, but by that time I had got the start of him, and never in
+my life did I exert myself so much as to keep the mastery. It was in
+vain; the powers of enchantment prevailed, and I was again turned down
+with the tear in my eye. I could think of no amends but one, and, being
+driven to desperation, I put it in practice. I told a lie of him. I
+came boldly up to the master, and told him that M'Gill had in my
+hearing cursed him in a most shocking manner, and called him vile
+names. He called M'Gill, and charged him with the crime, and the proud
+young coxcomb was so stunned at the atrocity of the charge that his
+face grew as red as crimson, and the words stuck in his throat as he
+feebly denied it. His guilt was manifest, and he was again flogged most
+nobly and dismissed the school for ever in disgrace, as a most
+incorrigible vagabond.
+
+This was a great victory gained, and I rejoiced and exulted exceedingly
+in it. It had, however, very nigh cost me my life; for I not long
+thereafter I encountered M'Gill in the fields, on which he came up and
+challenged me for a liar, daring me to fight him. I refused, and said
+that I looked on him as quite below my notice; but he would not quit
+me, and finally told me that he should either lick me, or I should lick
+him, as he had no other means of being revenged on such a scoundrel. I
+tried to intimidate him, but it would not do; and I believe I would
+have given all that I had in the world to be quit of him. He at length
+went so far as first to kick me, and then strike me on the face; and,
+being both older and stronger than he, I thought it scarcely became me
+to take such insults patiently. I was, nevertheless, well aware that
+the devilish powers of his mother would finally prevail; and either the
+dread of this, or the inward consciousness of having wronged him,
+certainly unnerved my arm, for I fought wretchedly, and was soon wholly
+overcome. I was so sore defeated that I kneeled and was going to beg
+his pardon; but another thought struck me momentarily, and I threw
+myself on my face, and inwardly begged aid from heaven; at the same
+time I felt as if assured that my prayer was heard, and would be
+answered. While I was in this humble attitude, the villain kicked me
+with his foot and cursed me; and I, being newly encouraged, arose and
+encountered him once more. We had not fought long at this second turn
+before I saw a man hastening towards us; on which I uttered a shout of
+joy, and laid on valiantly; but my very next look assured me that the
+man was old John Barnet, whom I had likewise wronged all that was in my
+power, and between these two wicked persons I expected anything but
+justice. My arm was again enfeebled, and that of my adversary
+prevailed. I was knocked down and mauled most grievously, and, while
+the ruffian was kicking and cuffing me at his will and pleasure, up
+came old John Barnet, breathless with running, and, at one blow with
+his open hand, levelled my opponent with the earth. "Tak ye that,
+maister!" said John, "to learn ye better breeding. Hout awa, man! An ye
+will fight, fight fair. Gude sauf us, ir ye a gentleman's brood, that
+ye will kick an' cuff a lad when he's down?"
+
+When I heard this kind and unexpected interference, I began once more
+to value myself on my courage, and, springing up, I made at my
+adversary; but John, without saying a word, bit his lip, and seizing me
+by the neck threw me down. M'Gill begged of him to stand and see fair
+play, and suffer us to finish the battle; for, added he, "he is a liar,
+and a scoundrel, and deserves ten times more than I can give him."
+
+"I ken he's a' that ye say, an' mair, my man," quoth John. "But am I
+sure that ye're no as bad, an' waur? It says nae muckle for ony o' ye
+to be tearing like tikes at one anither here."
+
+John cocked his cudgel and stood between us, threatening to knock the
+one dead who first offered to lift his hand against the other; but,
+perceiving no disposition in any of us to separate, he drove me home
+before him like a bullock, and keeping close guard behind me, lest
+M'Gill had followed. I felt greatly indebted to John, yet I complained
+of his interference to my mother, and the old officious sinner got no
+thanks for his pains.
+
+As I am writing only from recollection, so I remember of nothing
+farther in these early days, in the least worthy of being recorded.
+That I was a great, a transcendent sinner, I confess. But still I had
+hopes of forgiveness, because I never sinned from principle, but
+accident; and then I always tried to repent of these sins by the slump,
+for individually it was impossible; and, though not always successful
+in my endeavours, I could not help that, the grace of repentance being
+withheld from me, I regarded myself as in no degree accountable for the
+failure. Moreover, there were many of the most deadly sins into which I
+never fell, for I dreaded those mentioned in the Revelations as
+excluding sins, so that I guarded against them continually. In
+particular, I brought myself to despise, if not to abhor, the beauty of
+women, looking on it as the greatest snare to which mankind was
+subjected, and though young men and maidens, and even old women (my
+mother among the rest), taxed me with being an unnatural wretch, I
+gloried in my acquisition; and, to this day, am thankful for having
+escaped the most dangerous of all snares.
+
+I kept myself also free of the sins of idolatry and misbelief, both of
+a deadly nature; and, upon the whole, I think I had not then broken,
+that is, absolutely broken, above four out of the ten commandments;
+but, for all that, I had more sense than to regard either my good
+works, or my evil deeds, as in the smallest degree influencing the
+eternal decrees of God concerning me, either with regard to my
+acceptance or reprobation. I depended entirely on the bounty of free
+grace, holding all the righteousness of man as filthy rags, and
+believing in the momentous and magnificent truth that, the more heavily
+loaden with transgressions, the more welcome was the believer at the
+throne of grace. And I have reason to believe that it was this
+dependence and this belief that at last ensured my acceptance there.
+
+I come now to the most important period of my existence--the period
+that has modelled my character, and influenced every action of my
+life--without which, this detail of my actions would have been as a
+tale that hath been told--a monotonous farrago--an uninteresting
+harangue--in short, a thing of nothing. Whereas, lo! it must now be a
+relation of great and terrible actions, done in the might, and by the
+commission of heaven. Amen.
+
+Like the sinful king of Israel, I had been walking softly before the
+Lord for a season. I had been humbled for my transgressions, and, as
+far as I recollect, sorry on account of their numbers and heinousness.
+My reverend father had been, moreover, examining me every day regarding
+the state of my soul, and my answers sometimes appeared to give him
+satisfaction, and sometimes not. As for my mother, she would harp on
+the subject of my faith for ever; yet, though I knew her to be a
+Christian, I confess that I always despised her motley instructions,
+nor had I any great regard for her person. If this was a crime in me, I
+never could help it. I confess it freely, and believe it was a judgment
+from heaven inflicted on her for some sin of former days, and that I
+had no power to have acted otherwise towards her than I did.
+
+In this frame of mind was I when my reverend father one morning arose
+from his seat, and, meeting me as I entered the room, he embraced me,
+and welcomed me into the community of the just upon earth. I was struck
+speechless, and could make no answer save by looks of surprise. My
+mother also came to me, kissed, and wept over me; and, after showering
+unnumbered blessings on my head, she also welcomed me into the society
+of the just made perfect. Then each of them took me by a hand, and my
+reverend father explained to me how he had wrestled with God, as the
+patriarch of old had done, not for a night, but for days and years, and
+that in bitterness and anguish of spirit, on my account; but, that he
+had at last prevailed, and had now gained the long and earnestly
+desired assurance of my acceptance with the Almighty, in and through
+the merits and sufferings of his Son. That I was now a justified
+person, adopted among the number of God's children--my name written in
+the Lamb's book of life, and that no by-past transgression, nor any
+future act of my own, or of other men, could be instrumental in
+altering the decree. "All the powers of darkness," added he, "shall
+never be able to pluck you again out of your Redeemer's hand. And now,
+my son, be strong and steadfast in the truth. Set your face against
+sin, and sinful men, and resist even to blood, as many of the faithful
+of this land have done, and your reward shall be double. I am assured
+of your acceptance by the word and spirit of Him who cannot err, and
+your sanctification and repentance unto life will follow in due course.
+Rejoice and be thankful, for you are plucked as a brand out of the
+burning, and now your redemption is sealed and sure."
+
+I wept for joy to be thus assured of my freedom from all sin, and of
+the impossibility of my ever again falling away from my new state. I
+bounded away into the fields and the woods, to pour out my spirit in
+prayer before the Almighty for his kindness to me: my whole frame
+seemed to be renewed; every nerve was buoyant with new life; I felt as
+if I could have flown in the air, or leaped over the tops of the trees.
+An exaltation of spirit lifted me, as it were, far above the earth and
+the sinful creatures crawling  on its surface; and I deemed myself as
+an eagle among the children of men, soaring on high, and looking down
+with pity and contempt on the grovelling creatures below.
+
+As I thus wended my way, I beheld a young man of a mysterious
+appearance coming towards me. I tried to shun him, being bent on my own
+contemplations; but he cast himself in my way, so that I could not well
+avoid him; and, more than that, I felt a sort of invisible power that
+drew me towards him, something like the force of enchantment, which I
+could not resist. As we approached each other, our eyes met and I can
+never describe the strange sensations that thrilled through my whole
+frame at that impressive moment; a moment to me fraught with the most
+tremendous consequences; the beginning of a series of adventures which
+has puzzled myself, and will puzzle the world when I am no more in it.
+That time will now soon arrive, sooner than anyone can devise who knows
+not the tumult of my thoughts and the labour of my spirit; and when it
+hath come and passed over, when my flesh and my bones are decayed, and
+my soul has passed to its everlasting home, then shall the sons of men
+ponder on the events of my life; wonder and tremble, and tremble and
+wonder how such things should be.
+
+That strange youth and I approached each other in silence, and slowly,
+with our eyes fixed on each other's eyes. We approached till not more
+than a yard intervened between us, and then stood still and gazed,
+measuring each other from head to foot. What was my astonishment on
+perceiving that he was the same being as myself! The clothes were the
+same to the smallest item. The form was the same; the apparent age; the
+colour of the hair; the eyes; and, as far as recollection could serve
+me from viewing my own features in a glass, the features too were the
+very same. I conceived at first that I saw a vision, and that my
+guardian angel had appeared to me at this important era of my life; but
+this singular being read my thoughts in my looks, anticipating the very
+words that I was going to utter.
+
+"You think I am your brother," said he; "or that I am your second self.
+I am indeed your brother, not according to the flesh, but in my belief
+of the same truths, and my assurance in the same mode of redemption,
+than which I hold nothing so great or so glorious on earth."
+
+"Then you are an associate well adapted to my present state," said I.
+"For this time is a time of great rejoicing in spirit to me. I am on my
+way to return thanks to the Most High for my redemption from the bonds
+of sin and misery. If you will join with me heart and hand in youthful
+thanksgiving, then shall we two go and worship together; but, if not,
+go your way, and I shall go mine."
+
+"Ah, you little know with how much pleasure I will accompany you, and
+join with you in your elevated devotions," said he fervently. "Your
+state is a state to be envied indeed; but I have been advised of it,
+and am come to be a humble disciple of yours; to be initiated into the
+true way of salvation by conversing with you, and perhaps of being
+assisted by your prayers."
+
+My spiritual pride being greatly elevated by this address, I began to
+assume the preceptor, and questioned this extraordinary youth with
+regard to his religious principles, telling him plainly, if he was one
+who expected acceptance with God at all, on account of good works, that
+I would hold no communion with him. He renounced these at once, with
+the greatest vehemence, and declared his acquiescence in my faith. I
+asked if he believed in the eternal and irrevocable decrees of God,
+regarding the salvation and condemnation of all mankind? He answered
+that he did so: aye, what would signify all things else that he
+believed, if he did not believe in that? We then went on to commune
+about all our points of belief; and in everything that I suggested he
+acquiesced, and, as I thought that day, often carried them to extremes,
+so that I had a secret dread he was advancing blasphemies. He had such
+a way with him, and paid such a deference to all my opinions, that I
+was quite captivated, and, at the same time, I stood in a sort of awe
+of him, which I could not account for, and several times was seized
+with an involuntary inclination to escape from his presence by making a
+sudden retreat. But he seemed constantly to anticipate my thoughts, and
+was sure to divert my purpose by some turn in the conversation that
+particularly interested me. He took care to dwell much on the theme of
+the impossibility of those ever falling away who were once accepted and
+received into covenant with God, for he seemed to know that in that
+confidence, and that trust, my whole hopes were centred.
+
+We moved about from one place to another, until the day was wholly
+spent. My mind had all the while been kept in a state of agitation
+resembling the motion of a whirlpool, and, when we came to separate, I
+then discovered that the purpose for which I had sought the fields had
+been neglected, and that I had been diverted from the worship of God by
+attending to the quibbles and dogmas of this singular and unaccountable
+being, who seemed to have more knowledge and information than all the
+persons I had ever known put together.
+
+We parted with expressions of mutual regret, and when I left him I felt
+a deliverance, but at the same time a certain consciousness that I was
+not thus to get free of him, but that he was like to be an acquaintance
+that was to stick to me for good or for evil. I was astonished at his
+acuteness and knowledge about everything; but, as for his likeness to
+me, that was quite unaccountable. He was the same person in every
+respect, but yet he was not always so; for I observed several times,
+when we were speaking of certain divines and their tenets, that his
+face assumed something of the appearance of theirs; and it struck me
+that, by setting his features to the mould of other people's, he
+entered at once into their conceptions and feelings. I had been greatly
+flattered, and greatly interested by his conversation; whether I had
+been the better for it or the worse, I could not tell. I had been
+diverted from returning thanks to my gracious Maker for his great
+kindness to me, and came home as I went away, but not with the same
+buoyancy and lightness of heart.  Well may I remember the day in which
+I was first received into the number, and made an heir to all the
+privileges of the children of God, and on which I first met this
+mysterious associate, who from that day forth contrived to wind himself
+into all my affairs, both spiritual and temporal, to this day on which
+I am writing the account of it. It was on the 25th day of March, 1704,
+when I had just entered the eighteenth year of my age. Whether it
+behoves me to bless God for the events of that day, or to deplore them,
+has been hid from my discernment, though I have inquired into it with
+fear and trembling; and I have now lost all hopes of ever discovering
+the true import of these events until that day when my accounts are to
+make up and reckon for in another world.
+
+When I came home, I went straight into the parlour, where my mother was
+sitting by herself. She started to her feet, and uttered a smothered
+scream. "What ails you, Robert?" cried she. "My dear son, what is the
+matter with you?"
+
+"Do you see anything the matter with me?" said I. "It appears that the
+ailment is with yourself and either in your crazed head or your dim
+eyes, for there is nothing the matter with me."
+
+"Ah, Robert, you are ill!" cried she. "You are very ill, my dear boy;
+you are quite changed; your very voice and manner are changed. Ah,
+Jane, haste you up to the study, and tell Mr. Wringhim to come here on
+the instant and speak to Robert."
+
+"I beseech you, woman, to restrain yourself," said I. "If you suffer
+your frenzy to run away with your judgment in this manner, I will leave
+the house. What do you mean? I tell you, there is nothing ails me: I
+never was better."
+
+She screamed, and ran between me and the door, to bar my retreat: in
+the meantime my reverend father entered, and I have not forgot how he
+gazed, through his glasses, first at my mother, and then at me. I
+imagined that his eyes burnt like candles, and was afraid of him, which
+I suppose made my looks more unstable than they would otherwise have
+been.
+
+"What is all this for?" said he. "Mistress! Robert! What is the matter
+here?"
+
+"Oh, sir, our boy!" cried my mother; "our dear boy, Mr. Wringhim! Look
+at him, and speak to him: he is either dying or translated, sir!"
+
+He looked at me with a countenance of great alarm; mumbling some
+sentences to himself, and then taking me by the arm, as if to feel my
+pulse, he said, with a faltering voice: "Something has indeed befallen
+you, either in body or mind, boy, for you are transformed, since the
+morning, that I could not have known you for the same person. Have you
+met with any accident?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Have you seen anything out of the ordinary course of nature?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then, Satan, I fear, has been busy with you, tempting you in no
+ordinary degree at this momentous crisis of your life?"
+
+My mind turned on my associate for the day, and the idea that he might
+be an agent of the Devil had such an effect on me that I could make no
+answer.
+
+"I see how it is," said he; "you are troubled in spirit, and I have no
+doubt that the enemy of our salvation has been busy with you. Tell me
+this, has he overcome you, or has he not?"
+
+"He has not, my dear father," said I. "in the strength of the Lord, I
+hope I have withstood him. But indeed, if he has been busy with me, I
+knew it not. I have been conversant this day with one stranger only,
+whom I took rather for an angel of light."
+
+"It is one of the Devil's most profound wiles to appear like one," said
+my mother.
+
+"Woman, hold thy peace!" said my reverend father. "Thou pretendest to
+teach what thou knowest not. Tell me this, boy: did this stranger, with
+whom you met, adhere to the religious principles in which I have
+educated you?"
+
+"Yes, to every one of them in their fullest latitude," said I.
+
+"Then he was no agent of the Wicked One with whom you held converse,"
+said he: "for that is the doctrine that was made to overturn the
+principalities and powers, the might and dominion of the kingdom of
+darkness. Let us pray."
+
+After spending about a quarter of an hour in solemn and sublime
+thanksgiving, this saintly man and minister of Christ Jesus, gave out
+that the day following should be kept by the family as a day of solemn
+thanksgiving, and spent in prayer and praise, on account of the calling
+and election of one of its members; or rather for the election of that
+individual being revealed on earth, as well as confirmed in Heaven.
+
+The next day was with me a day of holy exultation. It was begun by my
+reverend father laying his hands upon my head and blessing me, and then
+dedicating me to the Lord in the most awful and impressive manner. It
+was in no common way that he exercised this profound rite, for it was
+done with all the zeal and enthusiasm of a devotee to the true cause,
+and a champion on the side he had espoused. He used these remarkable
+words, which I have still treasured up in my heart: "I give him unto
+Thee only, to Thee wholly, and to Thee for ever. I dedicate him unto
+Thee, soul, body, and spirit. Not as the wicked of this world, or the
+hirelings of a Church profanely called by Thy name, do I dedicate this
+Thy servant to Thee: Not in words and form, learned by rote, and
+dictated by the limbs of Antichrist, but, Lord, I give him into Thy
+hand, as a captain putteth a sword into the hand of his sovereign,
+wherewith to lay waste his enemies. May he be a two-edged weapon in Thy
+hand and a spear coming out of Thy mouth, to destroy, and overcome, and
+pass over; and may the enemies of Thy Church fall down before him, and
+be as dung to fat the land!"
+
+From the moment, I conceived it decreed, not that I should be a
+minister of the gospel, but a champion of it, to cut off the enemies of
+the Lord from the face of the earth; and I rejoiced in the commission,
+finding it more congenial to my nature to be cutting sinners off with
+the sword than to be haranguing them from the pulpit, striving to
+produce an effect which God, by his act of absolute predestination, had
+for ever rendered impracticable. The more I pondered on these things
+the more I saw of the folly and inconsistency of ministers in spending
+their lives striving and remonstrating with sinners in order to induce
+them to do that which they had it not in their power to do. Seeing that
+God had from all eternity decided the fate of every individual that was
+to be born of woman, how vain was it in man to endeavour to save those
+whom their Maker had, by an unchangeable decree, doomed to destruction.
+I could not disbelieve the doctrine which the best of men had taught
+me, and towards which he made the whole of the Scriptures to bear, and
+yet it made the economy of the Christian world appear to me as an
+absolute contradiction. How much more wise would it be, thought I, to
+begin and cut sinners off with the sword! For till that is effected,
+the saints can never inherit the earth in peace. Should I be honoured
+as an instrument to begin this great work of purification, I should
+rejoice in it. But, then, where had I the means, or under what
+direction was I to begin? There was one thing clear, I was now the
+Lord's and it behoved me to bestir myself in His service. Oh that I had
+an host at my command, then would I be as a devouring fire among the
+workers of iniquity!
+
+Full of these great ideas, I hurried through the city, and sought again
+the private path through the field and wood of Finnieston, in which my
+reverend preceptor had the privilege of walking for study, and to which
+he had a key that was always at my command. Near one of the stiles, I
+perceived a young man sitting in a devout posture, reading a Bible. He
+rose, lifted his hat, and made an obeisance to me, which I returned and
+walked on. I had not well crossed the stile till it struck me I knew
+the face of the youth and that he was some intimate acquaintance, to
+whom I ought to have spoken. I walked on, and returned, and walked on
+again, trying to recollect who he was; but for my life I could not.
+There was, however, a fascination in his look and manner that drew me
+back towards him in spite of myself, and I resolved to go to him, if it
+were merely to speak and see who he was.
+
+I came up to him and addressed him, but he was so intent on his book
+that, though I spoke, he lifted not his eyes. I looked on the book
+also, and still it seemed a Bible, having columns, chapters, and
+verses; but it was in a language of which I was wholly ignorant, and
+all intersected with red lines and verses. A sensation resembling a
+stroke of electricity came over me, on first casting my eyes on that
+mysterious book, and I stood motionless. He looked up, smiled, closed
+his book, and put it in his bosom. "You seem strangely affected, dear
+sir, by looking at my book," said he mildly.
+
+"In the name of God, what book is that?" said I. "Is it a Bible?"
+
+"It is my Bible, sir," said he, "but I will cease reading it, for I am
+glad to see you. Pray, is not this a day for holy festivity with you?"
+
+I stared in his face, but made no answer, for my senses were bewildered.
+
+"Do you not know me?" said he. "You appear to be somehow at a loss. Had
+not you and I some sweet communion and fellowship yesterday?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir," said I. "But, surely, if you are the young
+gentleman with whom I spent the hours yesterday, you have the chameleon
+art of changing your appearance; I never could have recognized you."
+
+"My countenance changes with my studies and sensations," said he. "It
+is a natural peculiarity in me, over which I have not full control. If
+I contemplate a man's features seriously, mine own gradually assume the
+very same appearance and character. And what is more, by contemplating
+a face minutely, I not only attain the same likeness but, with the
+likeness, I attain the very same ideas as well as the same mode of
+arranging them, so that, you see, by looking at a person attentively, I
+by degrees assume his likeness, and by assuming his likeness I attain
+to the possession of his most secret thoughts. This, I say, is a
+peculiarity in my nature, a gift of the God that made me; but, whether
+or not given me for a blessing, He knows Himself, and so do I. At all
+events, I have this privilege, I can never be mistaken of a character
+in whom I am interested."
+
+"It is a rare qualification," replied I, "and I would give worlds to
+possess it. Then, it appears that it is needless to dissemble with you,
+since you can at any time extract our most secret thoughts from our
+bosoms. You already know my natural character?"
+
+"Yes," said he, "and it is that which attaches me to you. By assuming
+your likeness yesterday, I became acquainted with your character, and
+was no less astonished at the profundity and range of your thoughts
+than at the heroic magnanimity with which these were combined. And now,
+in addition to these, you are dedicated to the great work of the Lord;
+for which reasons I have resolved to attach myself as closely to you as
+possible, and to render you all the service of which my poor abilities
+are capable."
+
+I confess that I was greatly flattered by these compliments paid to my
+abilities by a youth of such superior qualifications; by one who, with
+a modesty and affability rare at his age, combined a height of genius
+and knowledge almost above human comprehension. Nevertheless, I began
+to assume a certain superiority of demeanour towards him, as judging it
+incumbent on me to do so, in order to keep up his idea of my exalted
+character. We conversed again till the day was near a close; and the
+things that he strove most to inculcate on my mind were the
+infallibility of the elect, and the preordination of all things that
+come to pass. I pretended to controvert the first of these, for the
+purpose of showing him the extent of my argumentative powers, and said
+that "indubitably there were degrees of sinning which would induce the
+Almighty to throw off the very elect." But behold my hitherto humble
+and modest companion took up the argument with such warmth that he put
+me not only to silence but to absolute shame.
+
+"Why, sir," said he, "by vending such an insinuation, you put discredit
+on the great atonement, in which you trust. Is there not enough of
+merit in the blood of Jesus to save thousands of worlds, if it was for
+these worlds that he died? Now, when you know, as you do (and as every
+one of the elect may know of himself) that this Saviour died for you,
+namely and particularly, dare you say that there is not enough of merit
+in His great atonement to annihilate all your sins, let them be as
+heinous and atrocious as they may? And, moreover, do you not
+acknowledge that God hath pre-ordained and decreed whatsoever comes to
+pass? Then, how is it that you should deem it in your power to eschew
+one action of your life, whether good or evil? Depend on it, the advice
+of the great preacher is genuine: 'What thine hand findeth to do, do it
+with all thy might, for none of us knows what a day may bring forth.'
+That is, none of us knows what is pre-ordained, but whatever it is
+pre-ordained we must do, and none of these things will be laid to our
+charge."
+
+I could hardly believe that these sayings were genuine or orthodox; but
+I soon felt that, instead of being a humble disciple of mine, this new
+acquaintance was to be my guide and director, and all under the humble
+guise of one stooping at my feet to learn the right. He said that he
+saw I was ordained to perform some great action for the cause of Jesus
+and His Church, and he earnestly coveted being a partaker with me; but
+he besought of me never to think it possible for me to fall from the
+truth, or the favour of Him who had chosen me, else that misbelief
+would baulk every good work to which I set my face.
+
+There was something so flattering in all this that I could not resist
+it. Still, when he took leave of me, I felt it as a great relief; and
+yet, before the morrow, I wearied and was impatient to see him again.
+We carried on our fellowship from day to day, and all the while I knew
+not who he was, and still my mother and reverend father kept insisting
+that I was an altered youth, changed in my appearance, my manners, and
+my whole conduct; yet something always prevented me from telling them
+more about my new acquaintance than I had done on the first day we met.
+I rejoiced in him, was proud of him, and soon could not live without
+him; yet, though resolved every day to disclose the whole story of my
+connection with him, I had it not in my power. Something always
+prevented me, till at length I thought no more of it, but resolved to
+enjoy his fascinating company in private, and by all means to keep my
+own with him. The resolution was vain: I set a bold face to it, but my
+powers were inadequate to the task; my adherent, with all the suavity
+imaginable, was sure to carry his point. I sometimes fumed, and
+sometimes shed tears at being obliged to yield to proposals against
+which I had at first felt every reasoning power of my soul rise in
+opposition; but for all that he never faded in carrying conviction
+along with him in effect, for he either forced me to acquiesce in his
+measures, and assent to the truth of his positions, or he put me so
+completely down that I had not a word left to advance against them.
+
+After weeks, and I may say months of intimacy, I observed, somewhat to
+my amazement, that we had never once prayed together; and, more than
+that, that he had constantly led my attentions away from that duty,
+causing me to neglect it wholly. I thought this a bad mark of a man
+seemingly so much set on inculcating certain important points of
+religion, and resolved next day to put him to the test, and request him
+to perform that sacred duty in name of us both. He objected boldly;
+saying there were very few people indeed with whom he could join in
+prayer, and he made a point of never doing it, as he was sure they were
+to ask many things of which he disapproved, and that, if he were to
+officiate himself, he was as certain to allude to many things that came
+not within the range of their faith. He disapproved of prayer
+altogether in the manner it was generally gone about, he said. Man made
+it merely a selfish concern, and was constantly employed asking,
+asking, for everything. Whereas it became all God's creatures to be
+content with their lot, and only to kneel before him in order to thank
+him for such benefits as he saw meet to bestow. In short, he argued
+with such energy that before we parted I acquiesced, as usual, in his
+position, and never mentioned prayer to him any more.
+
+Having been so frequently seen in his company, several people happened
+to mention the circumstance to my mother and reverend father; but at
+the same time had all described him differently. At length, they began
+to examine me with respect to the company I kept, as I absented myself
+from home day after day. I told them I kept company only with one young
+gentleman, whose whole manner of thinking on religious subjects I found
+so congenial with my own that I could not live out of his society. My
+mother began to lay down some of her old hackneyed rules of faith, but
+I turned from hearing her with disgust; for, after the energy of my new
+friend's reasoning, hers appeared so tame I could not endure it. And I
+confess with shame that my reverend preceptor's religious dissertations
+began, about this time, to lose their relish very much, and by degrees
+became exceedingly tiresome to my ear. They were so inferior, in
+strength and sublimity, to the most common observations of my young
+friend that in drawing a comparison the former appeared as nothing. He,
+however, examined me about many things relating to my companion, in all
+of which I satisfied him, save in one: I could neither tell him who my
+friend was, what was his name, nor of whom he was descended; and I
+wondered at myself how I had never once adverted to such a thing for
+all the time we had been intimate.
+
+I inquired the next day what his name was; as I said I was often at a
+loss for it, when talking with him. He replied that there was no
+occasion for any one friend ever naming another, when their society was
+held in private, as ours was; for his part he had never once named me
+since we first met, and never intended to do so, unless by my own
+request. "But if you cannot converse without naming me, you may call me
+Gil for the present," added he, "and if I think proper to take another
+name at any future period, it shall be with your approbation."
+
+"Gil!" said I. "Have you no name but Gil? Or which of your names is it?
+Your Christian or surname?"
+
+"Oh, you must have a surname too, must you!" replied he. "Very well,
+you may call me Gil-Martin. It is not my Christian name; but it is a
+name which may serve your turn."
+
+"This is very strange!" said I. "Are you ashamed of your parents that
+you refuse to give your real name?"
+
+"I have no parents save one, whom I do not acknowledge," said he
+proudly. "Therefore, pray drop that subject, for it is a disagreeable
+one. I am a being of a very peculiar temper, for, though I have
+servants and subjects more than I can number, yet, to gratify a certain
+whim, I have left them, and retired to this city, and, for all the
+society it contains, you see I have attached myself only to you. This
+is a secret, and I tell you only in friendship, therefore pray let it
+remain one, and say not another word about the matter."
+
+I assented, and said no more concerning it; for it instantly struck me
+that this was no other than the Czar Peter of Russia, having heard that
+he had been travelling through Europe in disguise, and I cannot say
+that I had not thenceforward great and mighty hopes of high preferment,
+as a defender and avenger of the oppressed Christian Church, under the
+influence of this great potentate. He had hinted as much already, as
+that it was more honourable, and of more avail to put down the wicked
+with the sword than try to reform them, and I thought myself quite
+justified in supposing that he intended me for some great employment,
+that he had thus selected me for his companion out of all the rest in
+Scotland, and even pretended to learn the great truths of religion from
+my mouth. From that time I felt disposed to yield to such a great
+prince's suggestions without hesitation.
+
+Nothing ever astonished me so much as the uncommon powers with which he
+seemed invested. In our walk one day, we met with a Mr. Blanchard, who
+was reckoned a worthy, pious divine, but quite of the moral cast, who
+joined us; and we three walked on, and rested together in the fields.
+My companion did not seem to like him, but, nevertheless, regarded him
+frequently with deep attention, and there were several times, while he
+seemed contemplating him, and trying to find out his thoughts, that his
+face became so like Mr. Blanchard's that it was impossible to have
+distinguished the one from the other. The antipathy between the two was
+mutual, and discovered itself quite palpably in a short time. When my
+companion the prince was gone, Mr. Blanchard asked me anent him, and I
+told him that he was a stranger in the city, but a very uncommon and
+great personage. Mr. Blanchard's answer to me was as follows: "I never
+saw anybody I disliked so much in my life, Mr. Robert; and if it be
+true that he is a stranger here, which I doubt, believe me he is come
+for no good."
+
+"Do you not perceive what mighty powers of mind he is possessed of?"
+said I, "and also how clear and unhesitating he is on some of the most
+interesting points of divinity?"
+
+"It is for his great mental faculties that I dread him," said he. "It
+is incalculable what evil such a person as he may do, if so disposed.
+There is a sublimity in his ideas, with which there is to me a mixture
+of terror; and, when he talks of religion, he does it as one that
+rather dreads its truths than reverences them. He, indeed, pretends
+great strictness of orthodoxy regarding some of the points of doctrine
+embraced by the reformed church; but you do not seem to perceive that
+both you and he are carrying these points to a dangerous extremity.
+Religion is a sublime and glorious thing, the bonds of society on
+earth, and the connector of humanity with the Divine nature; but there
+is nothing so dangerous to man as the wresting of any of its
+principles, or forcing them beyond their due bounds: this is of all
+others the readiest way to destruction. Neither is there anything so
+easily done. There is not an error into which a man can fall which he
+may not press Scripture into his service as proof of the probity of,
+and though your boasted theologian shunned the full discussion of the
+subject before me, while you pressed it, I can easily see that both you
+and he are carrying your ideas of absolute predestination, and its
+concomitant appendages, to an extent that overthrows all religion and
+revelation together; or, at least, jumbles them into a chaos, out of
+which human capacity can never select what is good. Believe me, Mr.
+Robert, the less you associate with that illustrious stranger the
+better, for it appears to me that your creed and his carries damnation
+on the very front of it."
+
+I was rather stunned at this; but pretended to smile with disdain, and
+said it did not become youth to control age; and, as I knew our
+principles differed fundamentally, it behoved us to drop the subject.
+He, however, would not drop it, but took both my principles and me
+fearfully to task, for Blanchard was an eloquent and powerful-minded
+old man; and, before we parted, I believe I promised to drop my new
+acquaintance, and was all but resolved to do it.
+
+As well might I have laid my account with shunning the light of day. He
+was constant to me as my shadow, and by degrees he acquired such an
+ascendency over me that I never was happy out of his company, nor
+greatly so in it. When I repeated to him all that Mr. Blanchard had
+said, his countenance kindled with indignation and rage; and then by
+degrees his eyes sunk inward, his brow lowered, so that I was awed, and
+withdrew my eyes from looking at him. A while afterwards as I was
+addressing him, I chanced to look him again in the face, and the sight
+of him made me start violently. He had made himself so like Mr.
+Blanchard that I actually believed I had been addressing that
+gentleman, and that I had done so in some absence of mind that I could
+not account for. Instead of being amused at the quandary I was in, he
+seemed offended: indeed, he never was truly amused with anything. And
+he then asked me sullenly, if I conceived such personages as he to have
+no other endowments than common mortals?
+
+I said I never conceived that princes or potentates had any greater
+share of endowments than other men, and frequently not so much. He
+shook his head, and bade me think over the subject again; and there was
+an end of it. I certainly felt every day the more disposed to
+acknowledge such a superiority in him; and, from all that I could
+gather, I had now no doubt that he was Peter of Russia. Everything
+combined to warrant the supposition, and, of course, I resolved to act
+in conformity with the discovery I had made.
+
+For several days the subject of Mr. Blanchard's doubts and doctrines
+formed the theme of our discourse. My friend deprecated them most
+devoutly; and then again he would deplore them, and lament the great
+evil that such a man might do among the human race. I joined with him
+in allowing the evil in its fullest latitude; and, at length, after he
+thought he had fully prepared my nature for such a trial of its powers
+and abilities, he proposed calmly that we two should make away with Mr.
+Blanchard. I was so shocked that my bosom became as it were a void, and
+the beatings of my heart sounded loud and hollow in it; my breath cut,
+and my tongue and palate became dry and speechless. He mocked at my
+cowardice, and began a-reasoning on the matter with such powerful
+eloquence that, before we parted, I felt fully convinced that it was my
+bounden duty to slay Mr. Blanchard; but my will was far, very far from
+consenting to the deed.
+
+I spent the following night without sleep, or nearly so; and the next
+morning, by the time the sun arose, I was again abroad, and in the
+company of my illustrious friend. The same subject was resumed, and
+again he reasoned to the following purport: That supposing me placed at
+the head of any army of Christian soldiers, all bent on putting down
+the enemies of the Church, would I have any hesitation in destroying
+and rooting out these enemies? None, surely. Well then, when I saw and
+was convinced that here was an individual who was doing more detriment
+to the Church of Christ on earth than tens of thousands of such
+warriors were capable of doing, was it not my duty to cut him off, and
+save the elect? "He who would be a champion in the cause of Christ and
+His Church, my brave young friend," added he, "must begin early, and no
+man can calculate to what an illustrious eminence small beginnings may
+lead. If the man Blanchard is worthy, he is only changing his situation
+for a better one; and, if unworthy, it is better that one fall than
+that a thousand souls perish. Let us be up and doing in our vocations.
+For me, my resolution is taken; I have but one great aim in this world,
+and I never for a moment lose sight of it."
+
+I was obliged to admit the force of his reasoning; for, though I cannot
+from memory repeat his words, his eloquence was of that overpowering
+nature that the subtilty of other men sunk before it; and there is also
+little doubt that the assurance I had that these words were spoken by a
+great potentate who could raise me to the highest eminence (provided
+that I entered into his extensive and decisive measures) assisted
+mightily in dispelling my youthful scruples and qualms of conscience;
+and I thought moreover that, having such a powerful back friend to
+support me, I hardly needed to be afraid of the consequences. I
+consented! But begged a little time to think of it. He said the less
+one thought of a duty the better; and we parted.
+
+But the most singular instance of this wonderful man's power over my
+mind was that he had as complete influence over me by night as by day.
+All my dreams corresponded exactly with his suggestions; and, when he
+was absent from me, still his arguments sunk deeper in my heart than
+even when he was present. I dreamed that night of a great triumph
+obtained, and, though the whole scene was but dimly and confusedly
+defined in my vision, yet the overthrow and death of Mr. Blanchard was
+the first step by which I attained the eminent station I occupied.
+Thus, by dreaming of the event by night, and discoursing of it by day,
+it soon became so familiar to my mind that I almost conceived it as
+done. It was resolved on: which was the first and greatest victory
+gained; for there was no difficulty in finding opportunities enow of
+cutting off a man who, every good day, was to be found walking by
+himself in private grounds. I went and heard him preach for two days,
+and in fact I held his tenets scarcely short of blasphemy; they were
+such as I had never heard before, and his congregation, which was
+numerous, were turning up their ears and drinking in his doctrines with
+the utmost delight; for Oh they suited their carnal natures and
+self-sufficiency to a hair! He was actually holding it forth, as a
+fact, that "it was every man's own blame if he was not saved!" What
+horrible misconstruction! And then he was alleging, and trying to prove
+from nature and reason, that no man ever was guilty of a sinful action
+who might not have declined it had he so chosen! "Wretched
+controvertist!" thought I to myself an hundred times, "shall not the
+sword of the Lord be moved from its place of peace for such
+presumptuous, absurd testimonies as these!"
+
+When I began to tell the prince about these false doctrines, to my
+astonishment I found that he had been in the church himself, and had
+every argument that the old divine had used verbatim; and he remarked
+on them with great concern that these were not the tenets that
+corresponded with his views in society, and that he had agents in every
+city, and every land, exerting their powers to put them down. I asked,
+with great simplicity: "Are all your subjects Christians, prince?"
+
+"All my European subjects are, or deem themselves so," returned he;
+"and they are the most faithful and true subjects I have."
+
+Who could doubt, after this, that he was the Czar of Russia? I have
+nevertheless had reasons to doubt of his identity since that period,
+and which of my conjectures is right I believe the God of Heaven only
+knows, for I do not. I shall go on to write such things as I remember,
+and, if anyone shall ever take the trouble to read over these
+confessions, such a one will judge for himself. It will be observed
+that, since ever I fell in with this extraordinary person, I have
+written about him only, and I must continue to do so to the end of this
+memoir, as I have performed no great or interesting action in which he
+had not a principal share.
+
+He came to me one day and said: "We must not linger thus in executing
+what we have resolved on. We have much before our hands to perform for
+the benefit of mankind, both civil as well as religious. Let us do what
+we have to do here, and then we must wend our way to other cities, and
+perhaps to other countries. Mr. Blanchard is to hold forth in the high
+church of Paisley on Sunday next, on some particularly great occasion:
+this must be defeated; he must not go there. As he will be busy
+arranging his discourses, we may expect him to be walking by himself in
+Finnieston Dell the greater part of Friday and Saturday. Let us go and
+cut him off. What is the life of a man more than the life of a lamb, or
+any guiltless animal? It is not half so much, especially when we
+consider the immensity of the mischief this old fellow is working among
+our fellow-creatures. Can there be any doubt that it is the duty of one
+consecrated to God to cut off such a mildew?"
+
+"I fear me, great sovereign," said I, "that your ideas of retribution
+are too sanguine, and too arbitrary for the laws of this country. I
+dispute not that your motives are great and high; but have you debated
+the consequences, and settled the result?"
+
+"I have," returned be, "and hold myself amenable for the action to the
+laws of God and of equity; as to the enactments of men, I despise them.
+Fain would I see the weapon of the Lord of Hosts begin the work of
+vengeance that awaits it to do!"
+
+I could not help thinking that I perceived a little derision of
+countenance on his face as he said this, nevertheless I sunk dumb
+before such a man, aroused myself to the task, seeing he would not have
+it deferred. I approved of it in theory, but my spirit stood aloof from
+the practice. I saw and was convinced that the elect of God would be
+happier, and purer, were the wicked and unbelievers all cut off from
+troubling and misleading them, but if it had not been the instigations
+of this illustrious stranger, I should never have presumed to begin so
+great a work myself. Yet, though he often aroused my zeal to the
+highest pitch, still my heart at times shrunk from the shedding of
+life-blood, and it was only at the earnest and unceasing instigations
+of my enlightened and voluntary patron that I at length put my hand to
+the conclusive work. After I said all that I could say, and all had
+been overborne (I remember my actions and words as well as it had been
+yesterday), I turned round hesitatingly, and looked up to Heaven for
+direction; but there was a dimness come over my eyes that I could not
+see. The appearance was as if there had been a veil drawn over me, so
+nigh that I put up my hand to feel it; and then Gil-Martin (as this
+great sovereign was pleased to have himself called) frowned, and asked
+me what I was grasping at. I knew not what to say, but answered, with
+fear and shame: "I have no weapons, not one; nor know I where any are
+to be found."
+
+"The God whom thou servest will provide these," said he, "if thou
+provest worthy of the trust committed to thee."
+
+I looked again up into the cloudy veil that covered us and thought I
+beheld golden weapons of every description let down in it, but all with
+their points towards me. I kneeled, And was going to stretch out my
+hand to take one, when my patron seized me, as I thought, by the
+clothes, and dragged me away with as much ease as I had been a lamb,
+saying, with a joyful and elevated voice: "Come, my friend, let us
+depart: thou art dreaming--thou art dreaming. Rouse up all the energies
+of thy exalted mind, for thou art an highly favoured one; and doubt
+thou not that He whom thou servest, will be ever at thy right and left
+hand, to direct and assist thee."
+
+These words, but particularly the vision I had seen, of the golden
+weapons descending out of Heaven, inflamed my zeal to that height that
+I was as one beside himself; which my parents perceived that night, and
+made some motions towards confining me to my room. I joined in the
+family prayers, and then I afterwards sung a psalm and prayed by
+myself; and I had good reasons for believing that that small oblation
+of praise and prayer was not turned to sin. But there are strange
+things, and unaccountable agencies in nature: He only who dwells
+between the Cherubim can unriddle them, and to Him the honour must
+redound for ever. Amen.
+
+I felt greatly strengthened and encouraged that night, and the next
+morning I ran to meet my companion, out of whose eye I had now no life.
+He rejoiced at seeing me so forward in the great work of reformation by
+blood, and said many things to raise my hopes of future fame and glory;
+and then producing two pistols of pure beaten gold, he held them out
+and proffered me the choice of one, saying: "See what thy master hath
+provided thee!" I took one of them eagerly, for I perceived at once
+that they were two of the very weapons that were let down from Heaven
+in the cloudy veil, the dim tapestry of the firmament; and I said to
+myself. "Surely this is the will of the Lord."
+
+The little splendid and enchanting piece was so perfect, so complete,
+and so ready for executing the will of the donor, that I now longed to
+use it in his service. I loaded it with my own hand, as Gil-Martin did
+the other, and we took our stations behind a bush of hawthorn and
+bramble on the verge of the wood, and almost close to the walk. My
+patron was so acute in all his calculations that he never mistook an
+event. We had not taken our stand above a minute and a half till old
+Mr. Blanchard appeared, coming slowly on the path. When we saw this, we
+cowered down and leaned each of us a knee upon the ground, pointing
+the pistols through the bush, with an aim so steady that it was
+impossible to miss our victim.
+
+He came deliberately on, pausing at times so long that we dreaded he
+was going to turn. Gil-Martin dreaded it, and I said I did, but wished
+in my heart that he might. He, however, came onward, and I will never
+forget the manner in which he came! No, I don't believe I ever can
+forget it, either in the narrow bounds of time or the ages of eternity!
+He was a broadly, ill-shaped man, of a rude exterior, and a little bent
+with age; his hands were clasped behind his back and below his coat,
+and he walked with a slow swinging air that was very peculiar. When he
+paused and looked abroad on nature, the act was highly impressive: he
+seemed conscious of being all alone, and conversant only with God and
+the elements of his creation. Never was there such a picture of human
+inadvertency! a man approaching step by step to the one that was to
+hurl him out of one existence into another with as much ease and
+indifference as the ox goeth to the stall. Hideous vision, wilt thou
+not be gone from my mental sight! if not, let me bear with thee as I
+can!
+
+When he came straight opposite to the muzzles of our pieces, Gil-Martin
+called out "Eh!" with a short quick sound. The old man, without
+starting, turned his face and breast towards us, and looked into the
+wood, but looked over our heads.
+
+"Now!" whispered my companion, and fired. But my hand refused the
+office, for I was not at that moment sure about becoming an assassin in
+the cause of Christ and His Church. I thought I heard a sweet voice
+behind me, whispering to me to beware, and I was going to look round,
+when my companion exclaimed: "Coward, we are ruined!"
+
+I had no time for an alternative: Gil-Martin's ball had not taken
+effect, which was altogether wonderful, as the old man's breast was
+within a few yards of him. "Hilloa!" cried Blanchard, "what is that
+for, you dog!" and with that he came forward to look over the bush. I
+hesitated, as I said, and attempted to look behind me; but there was no
+time: the next step discovered two assassins lying in covert, waiting
+for blood. "Coward, we are ruined!" cried my indignant friend; and that
+moment my piece was discharged. The effect was as might have been
+expected: the old man first stumbled to one side, and then fell on his
+back. We kept our places, and I perceived my companion's eyes gleaming
+with an unnatural joy. The wounded man raised himself from the bank to
+a sitting posture, and I beheld his eyes swimming; he however appeared
+sensible, for we heard him saying in a low and rattling voice: "Alas,
+alas! whom have I offended, that they should have been driven to an act
+like this! Come forth and shew yourselves, that I may either forgive
+you before I die, or curse you in the name of the Lord." He then fell
+a-groping with both hands on the ground, as if feeling for something he
+had lost manifestly in the agonies of death; and, with a solemn and
+interrupted prayer for forgiveness, he breathed his last.
+
+I had become rigid as a statue, whereas my associate appeared to be
+elevated above measure. "Arise, thou faint-hearted one, and let us be
+going," said he. "Thou hast done well for once; but wherefore hesitate
+in such a cause? This is but a small beginning of so great a work as
+that of purging the Christian world. But the first victim is a worthy
+one, and more of such lights must be extinguished immediately."
+
+We touched not our victim, nor anything pertaining to him, for fear of
+staining our hands with his blood; and the firing having brought three
+men within view, who were hasting towards the spot, my undaunted
+companion took both the pistols, and went forward as with intent to
+meet them, bidding me shift for myself. I ran off in a contrary
+direction, till I came to the foot of the Pearman Sike, and then,
+running up the hollow of that, I appeared on the top of the bank as if
+I had been another man brought in view by hearing the shots in such a
+place. I had a full view of a part of what passed, though not of all. I
+saw my companion going straight to meet the men, apparently with a
+pistol in every hand, waving in a careless manner. They seemed not
+quite clear of meeting with him, and so he went straight on, and passed
+between them. They looked after him, and came onwards; but, when they
+came to the old man lying stretched in his blood, then they turned and
+pursued my companion, though not so quickly as they might have done;
+and I understand that from the first they saw no more of him.
+
+Great was the confusion that day in Glasgow. The most popular of all
+their preachers of morality was (what they called) murdered in cold
+blood, and a strict and extensive search was made for the assassin.
+Neither of the accomplices was found, however, that is certain, nor was
+either of them so much as suspected; but another man was apprehended
+under circumstances that warranted suspicion. This was one of the
+things that I witnessed in my life, which I never understood, and it
+surely was one of my patron's most dexterous tricks, for I must still
+say, what I have thought from the beginning, that like him there never
+was a man created. The young man who was taken up was a preacher; and
+it was proved that he had purchased fire-arms in town, and gone out
+with them that morning. But the far greatest mystery of the whole was
+that two of the men, out of the three who met my companion, swore that
+that unfortunate preacher was the man whom they met with a pistol in
+each hand, fresh from the death of the old divine. The poor fellow made
+a confused speech himself, which there is not the least doubt was quite
+true; but it was laughed to scorn, and an expression of horror ran
+through both the hearers and jury. I heard the whole trial, and so did
+Gil-Martin; but we left the journeyman preacher to his fate, and from
+that time forth I have had no faith in the justice of criminal trials.
+If once a man is prejudiced on one side, he will swear anything in
+support of such prejudice. I tried to expostulate with my mysterious
+friend on the horrid injustice of suffering this young man to die for
+our act, but the prince exulted in it more than the other, and said the
+latter was the most dangerous man of the two.
+
+The alarm in and about Glasgow was prodigious. The country being
+divided into two political parties, the court and the country party,
+the former held meetings, issued proclamations, and offered rewards,
+ascribing all to the violence of party spirit, and deprecating the
+infernal measures of their opponents. I did not understand their
+political differences; but it was easy to see that the true Gospel
+preachers joined all on one side, and the upholders of pure morality
+and a blameless life on the other, so that this division proved a test
+to us, and it was forthwith resolved that we two should pick out some
+of the leading men of this unsaintly and heterodox cabal, and cut them
+off one by one, as occasion should suit.
+
+Now, the ice being broke, I felt considerable zeal in our great work,
+but pretended much more; and we might soon have kidnapped them all
+through the ingenuity of my patron, had not our next attempt
+miscarried, by some awkwardness or mistake of mine. The consequence was
+that he was discovered fairly, and very nigh seized. I also was seen,
+and suspected so far that my reverend father, my mother, and myself
+were examined privately. I denied all knowledge of the matter; and they
+held it in such a ridiculous light, and their conviction of the
+complete groundlessness of the suspicion was so perfect, that their
+testimony prevailed, and the affair was hushed. I was obliged, however,
+to walk circumspectly, and saw my companion the prince very seldom, who
+was prowling about every day, quite unconcerned about his safety. He
+was every day a new man, however, and needed not to be alarmed at any
+danger; for such a facility had he in disguising himself that, if it
+had not been for a password which we had between us, for the purposes
+of recognition, I never could have known him myself.
+
+It so happened that my reverend father was called to Edinburgh about
+this time, to assist with his counsel in settling the national affairs.
+At my earnest request I was permitted to accompany him, at which both
+my associate and I rejoiced, as we were now about to move in a new and
+extensive field. All this time I never knew where my illustrious friend
+resided. He never once invited me to call on him at his lodgings, nor
+did he ever come to our house, which made me sometimes to suspect that,
+if any of our great efforts in the cause of true religion were
+discovered, he intended leaving me in the lurch. Consequently, when we
+met in Edinburgh (for we travelled not in company), I proposed to go
+with him to look for lodgings, telling him at the same time what a
+blessed religious family my reverend instructor and I were settled in.
+He said he rejoiced at it, but he made a rule of never lodging in any
+particular house, but took these daily, or hourly, as he found it
+convenient, and that he never was at a loss in any circumstance.
+
+"What a mighty trouble you put yourself to, great sovereign!" said I,
+"and all, it would appear, for the purpose of seeing and knowing more
+and more of the human race."
+
+"I never go but where I have some great purpose to serve," returned he,
+"either in the advancement of my own power and dominion or in thwarting
+my enemies."
+
+"With all due deference to your great comprehension, my illustrious
+friend," said I, "it strikes me that you can accomplish very little
+either the one way or the other here, in the humble and private
+capacity you are pleased to occupy."
+
+"It is your own innate modesty that prompts such a remark," said he.
+"Do you think the gaining of you to my service is not an attainment
+worthy of being envied by the greatest potentate in Christendom? Before
+I had missed such a prize as the attainment of your services, I would
+have travelled over one half of the habitable globe."--I bowed with
+great humility, but at the same time how could I but feel proud and
+highly flattered? He continued: "Believe me, my dear friend, for such a
+prize I account no effort too high. For a man who is not only dedicated
+to the King of Heaven in the most solemn manner, soul, body, and
+spirit, but also chosen of him from the beginning, justified,
+sanctified, and received into a communion that never shall be broken,
+and from which no act of his shall ever remove him--the possession of
+such a man, I tell you, is worth kingdoms; because, every deed that he
+performs, he does it with perfect safety to himself and honour to
+me."--I bowed again, lifting my hat, and he went on.-- "I am now going
+to put his courage in the cause he has espoused to a severe test--to a
+trial at which common nature would revolt, but he who is dedicated to
+be the sword of the Lord must raise himself above common humanity. You
+have a father and a brother according to the flesh: what do you know of
+them?"
+
+"I am sorry to say I know nothing good," said I. "They are reprobates,
+castaways, beings devoted to the Wicked One, and, like him, workers of
+every species of iniquity with greediness."
+
+"They must both fall!" said he, with a sigh and melancholy look. "It is
+decreed in the councils above that they must both fall by your hand."
+
+"The God of Heaven forbid it!" said I. "They are enemies to Christ and
+His Church, that I know and believe; but they shall live and die in
+their iniquity for me, and reap their guerdon when their time cometh.
+There my hand shall not strike."
+
+"The feeling is natural, and amiable," said he. "But you must think
+again. Whether are the bonds of carnal nature or the bonds and vows of
+the Lord strongest?"
+
+"I will not reason with you on this head, mighty potentate," said I,
+"for whenever I do so it is but to be put down. I shall only, express
+my determination not to take vengeance out of the Lord's hand in this
+instance. It availeth not. These are men that have the mark of the
+beast in their foreheads and right hands; they are lost beings
+themselves, but have no influence over others. Let them perish in their
+sins; for they shall not be meddled with by me."
+
+"How preposterously you talk, my dear friend!" said he. "These people
+are your greatest enemies; they would rejoice to see you annihilated.
+And, now that you have taken up the Lord's cause of being avenged on
+His enemies, wherefore spare those that are your own as well as His?
+Besides, you ought to consider what great advantages would be derived
+to the cause of righteousness and truth were the estate and riches of
+that opulent house in your possession, rather than in that of such as
+oppose the truth and all manner of holiness."
+
+This was a portion of the consequence of following my illustrious
+adviser's summary mode of procedure that had never entered into my
+calculation. I disclaimed all idea of being influenced by it; however,
+I cannot but say that the desire of being enabled to do so much good,
+by the possession of these bad men's riches, made some impression on my
+heart, and I said I would consider of the matter. I did consider it,
+and that right seriously as well as frequently; and there was scarcely
+an hour in the day on which my resolves were not animated by my great
+friend, till at length I began to have a longing desire to kill my
+brother, in particular. Should any man ever read this scroll, he will
+wonder at this confession, and deem it savage and unnatural. So it
+appeared to me at first, but a constant thinking of an event changes
+every one of its features. I have done all for the best, and as I was
+prompted, by one who knew right and wrong much better than I did. I had
+a desire to slay him, it is true, and such a desire too as a thirsty
+man has to drink; but, at the same time, this longing desire was
+mingled with a certain terror, as if I had dreaded that the drink for
+which I longed was mixed with deadly poison. My mind was so much
+weakened, or rather softened about this time, that my faith began a
+little to give way, and I doubted most presumptuously of the least
+tangible of all Christian tenets, namely, of the infallibility of the
+elect. I hardly comprehended the great work I had begun, and doubted of
+my own infallibility, or that of any created being. But I was brought
+over again by the unwearied diligence of my friend to repent of my
+backsliding, and view once more the superiority of the Almighty's
+counsels in its fullest latitude. Amen.
+
+I prayed very much in secret about this time, and that with great
+fervour of spirit, as well as humility; and my satisfaction at finding
+all my requests granted is not to be expressed.
+
+My illustrious friend still continuing to sound in my ears the
+imperious duty to which I was called, of making away with my sinful
+relations, and quoting many parallel actions out of the Scriptures, and
+the writings of the holy fathers, of the pleasure the Lord took in such
+as executed his vengeance on the wicked, I was obliged to acquiesce in
+his measures, though with certain limitations. It was not easy to
+answer his arguments, and yet I was afraid that he soon perceived a
+leaning to his will on my part. "If the acts of Jehu, in rooting out
+the whole house of his master, were ordered and approved-of by the
+Lord," said he, "would it not have been more praiseworthy if one of
+Ahab's own sons had stood up for the cause of the God of Israel, and
+rooted out the sinners and their idols out of the land?"
+
+"It would certainly," said I. "To our duty to God all other duties must
+yield."
+
+"Go thou then and do likewise," said he. "Thou are called to a high
+vocation; to cleanse the sanctuary of thy God in this thy native land
+by the shedding of blood; go thou then like a ruling energy, a master
+spirit of desolation in the dwellings of the wicked, and high shall be
+your reward both here and hereafter."
+
+My heart now panted with eagerness to look my brother in the face. On
+which my companion, who was never out of the way, conducted me to a
+small square in the suburbs of the city, where there were a number of
+young noblemen and gentlemen playing at a vain, idle, and sinful game,
+at which there was much of the language of the accursed going on; and
+among these blasphemers he instantly pointed out my brother to me. I
+was fired with indignation at seeing him in such company, and so
+employed; and I placed myself close beside him to watch all his
+motions, listen to his words, and draw inferences from what I saw and
+heard. In what a sink of sin was he wallowing! I resolved to take him
+to task, and, if he refused to be admonished, to inflict on him some
+condign punishment; and, knowing that my illustrious friend and
+director was looking on, I resolved to show some spirit. Accordingly, I
+waited until I heard him profane his Maker's name three times, and
+then, my spiritual indignation being roused above all restraint, I went
+up and kicked him. Yes, I went boldly up and struck him with my foot,
+and meant to have given him a more severe blow than it was my fortune
+to inflict. It had, however, the effect of rousing up his corrupt
+nature to quarrelling and strife, instead of taking the chastisement of
+the Lord in humility and meekness. He ran furiously against me in the
+choler that is always inspired by the wicked one; but I overthrew him,
+by reason of impeding the natural and rapid progress of his unholy feet
+running to destruction. I also fell slightly; but his fall proved a
+severe one, he arose in wrath, and struck me with the mall which he
+held in his hand, until my blood flowed copiously; and from that moment
+I vowed his destruction in my heart. But I chanced to have no weapon at
+that time, nor any means of inflicting due punishment on the caitiff,
+which would not have been returned double on my head by him and his
+graceless associates. I mixed among them at the suggestion of my
+friend, and, following them to their den of voluptuousness and sin, I
+strove to be admitted among them, in hopes of finding some means of
+accomplishing my great purpose, while I found myself moved by the
+spirit within me so to do. But I was not only debarred, but, by the
+machinations of my wicked brother and his associates, cast into prison.
+
+I was not sorry at being thus honoured to suffer in the cause of
+righteousness, and at the hands of sinful men; and, as soon as I was
+alone, I betook myself to prayer, deprecating the long-suffering of God
+towards such horrid sinners. My jailer came to me, and insulted me. He
+was a rude unprincipled fellow, partaking of the loose and carnal
+manners of the age; but I remembered of having read, in the Cloud of
+Witnesses, of such men formerly having been converted by the imprisoned
+saints; so I set myself, with all my heart, to bring about this man's
+repentance and reformation.
+
+"Fat the deil are ye yoolling an' praying that gate for, man?" said he,
+coming angrily in. "I thought the days o' praying prisoners had been a'
+ower. We hath rowth o' them aince; an' they were the poorest an' the
+blackest bargains that ever poor jailers saw. Gie up your crooning, or
+I'll pit you to an in-by place, where ye sall get plenty o't."
+
+"Friend," said I, "I am making my appeal at the bar where all human
+actions are seen and judged, and where you shall not be forgot, sinful
+as you are. Go in peace, and let me be."
+
+"Hae ye naebody nearer-hand hame to mak your appeal to, man?" said he.
+"Because an ye hae-na, I dread you an' me may be unco weel acquaintit
+by an' by."
+
+I then opened up the mysteries of religion to him in a clear and
+perspicuous manner, but particularly the great doctrine of the election
+of grace; and then I added: "Now, friend, you must tell me if you
+pertain to this chosen number. It is in every man's power to ascertain
+this, and it is every man's duty to do it."
+
+"An' fat the better wad you be for the kenning o' this, man?" said he.
+
+"Because, if you are one of my brethren, I will take you into sweet
+communion and fellowship," returned I. "But, if you belong to the
+unregenerate, I have a commission to slay you."
+
+"The deil you hae, callant!" said he, gaping and laughing. "An', pray
+now, fa was it, that gae you siccan a braw commission?"
+
+"My commission is sealed by the signet above," said I, "and that I will
+let you and all sinners know. I am dedicated to it by the most solemn
+vows and engagements. I am the sword of the Lord, and Famine and
+Pestilence are my sisters. Woe then to the wicked of this land, for
+they must fall down dead together, that the Church may be purified!"
+
+"Oo, foo, foo! I see how it is," said he. "Yours is a very braw
+commission, but you will have the small opportunity of carrying it
+through here. Take my advising, and write a bit of a letter to your
+friends, and I will send it, for this is no place for such a great man.
+If you cannot steady your hand to write, as I see you have been at your
+great work, a word of a mouth may do; for I do assure you this is not
+the place at all, of any in the world, for your operations."
+
+The man apparently thought I was deranged in my intellect. He could not
+swallow such great truths at the first morsel. So I took his advice,
+and sent a line to my reverend father, who was not long in coming, and
+great was the jailer's wonderment when he saw all the great Christian
+noblemen of the land sign my bond of freedom.
+
+My reverend father took this matter greatly to heart, and bestirred
+himself in the good cause till the transgressors were ashamed to shew
+their faces. My illustrious companion was not idle: I wondered that he
+came not to me in prison, nor at my release; but he was better
+employed, in stirring up the just to the execution of God's decrees;
+and he succeeded so well that my brother and all his associates had
+nearly fallen victims to their wrath. But many were wounded, bruised,
+and imprisoned, and much commotion prevailed in the city. For my part,
+I was greatly strengthened in my resolution by the anathemas of my
+reverend father, who, privately (that is in a family capacity) in his
+prayers, gave up my father and brother, according to the flesh, to
+Satan, making it plain to all my senses of perception that they were
+being given up of God, to be devoured by fiends of men, at their will
+and pleasure, and that whosoever should slay them would do God good
+service.
+
+The next morning my illustrious friend met me at an early hour, and he
+was greatly overjoyed at hearing my sentiments now chime so much in
+unison with his own. I said: "I longed for the day and the hour that I
+might look my brother in the face at Gilgal, and visit on him the
+iniquity of his father and himself, for that I was now strengthened and
+prepared for the deed."
+
+"I have been watching the steps and movements of the profligate one,"
+said he, "and, lo, I will take you straight to his presence. Let your
+heart be as the heart of the lion, and your arms strong as the shekels
+of brass, and swift to avenge as the bolt that descendeth from heaven,
+for the blood of the just and the good hath long flowed in Scotland.
+But already is the day of their avengement begun; the hero is at length
+arisen who shall send all such as bear enmity to the true Church, or
+trust in works of their own, to Tophet!"
+
+Thus encouraged, I followed my friend, who led me directly to the same
+court in which I had chastised the miscreant on the foregoing day; and,
+behold, there was the same group again assembled. They eyed me with
+terror in their looks, as I walked among them and eyed them with looks
+of disapprobation and rebuke; and I saw that the very eye of a chosen
+one lifted on these children of Belial was sufficient to dismay and put
+them to flight. I walked aside to my friend, who stood at a distance
+looking on, and he said to me: "What thinkest thou now?" and I answered
+in the words of the venal prophet, "Lo, now, if I had a sword into mine
+hand I would even kill him."
+
+"Wherefore lackest thou it?" said he. "Dost thou not see that they
+tremble at thy presence, knowing that the avenger of blood is among
+them."
+
+My heart was lifted up on hearing this, and again I strode into the
+midst of them, and, eyeing them with threatening looks, they were so
+much confounded that they abandoned their sinful pastime, and fled
+everyone to his house!
+
+This was a palpable victory gained over the wicked, and I thereby knew
+that the hand of the Lord was with me. My companion also exulted, and
+said: "Did not I tell thee? Behold thou dost not know one half of thy
+might, or of the great things thou art destined to do. Come with me and
+I will show thee more than this, for these young men cannot subsist
+without the exercises of sin. I listened to their councils, and I know
+where they will meet again."
+
+Accordingly he led me a little farther to the south, and we walked
+aside till by degrees we saw some people begin to assemble; and in a
+short time we perceived the same group stripping off their clothes to
+make them more expert in the practice of madness and folly. Their game
+was begun before we approached, and so also were the oaths and cursing.
+I put my hands in my pockets, and walked with dignity and energy into
+the midst of them. It was enough. Terror and astonishment seized them.
+A few of them cried out against me, but their voices were soon hushed
+amid the murmurs of fear. One of them, in the name of the rest, then
+came and besought of me to grant them liberty to amuse themselves; but
+I refused peremptorily, dared the whole multitude so much as to touch
+me with one of their fingers, and dismissed them in the name of the
+Lord.
+
+Again they all fled and dispersed at my eye, and I went home in
+triumph, escorted by my friend, and some well-meaning young Christians,
+who, however, had not learned to deport themselves with soberness and
+humility. But my ascendancy over my enemies was great indeed; for
+wherever I appeared I was hailed with approbation, and, wherever my
+guilty brother made his appearance, he was hooted and held in derision,
+till he was forced to hide his disgraceful head, and appear no more in
+public.
+
+Immediately after this I was seized with a strange distemper, which
+neither my friends nor physicians could comprehend, and it confined me
+to my chamber for many days; but I knew, myself, that I was bewitched,
+and suspected my father's reputed concubine of the deed. I told my
+fears to my reverend protector, who hesitated concerning them, but I
+knew by his words and looks that he was conscious I was right. I
+generally conceived myself to be two people. When I lay in bed, I
+deemed there were two of us in it; when I sat up I always beheld
+another person, and always in the same position from the place where I
+sat or stood, which was about three paces off me towards my left side.
+It mattered not how many or how few were present: this my second self
+was sure to be present in his place, and this occasioned a confusion in
+all my words and ideas that utterly astounded my friends, who all
+declared that, instead of being deranged in my intellect, they had
+never heard my conversation manifest so much energy or sublimity of
+conception; but, for all that, over the singular delusion that I was
+two persons my reasoning faculties had no power. The most perverse part
+of it was that I rarely conceived myself to be any of the two persons.
+I thought for the most part that my companion was one of them, and my
+brother the other; and I found that, to be obliged to speak and answer
+in the character of another man, was a most awkward business at the
+long run.
+
+Who can doubt, from this statement, that I was bewitched, and that my
+relatives were at the ground of it? The constant and unnatural
+persuasion that I was my brother proved it to my own satisfaction, and
+must, I think, do so to every unprejudiced person. This victory of the
+Wicked One over me kept me confined in my chamber at Mr. Millar's house
+for nearly a month, until the prayers of the faithful prevailed, and I
+was restored. I knew it was a chastisement for my pride, because my
+heart was lifted up at my superiority over the enemies of the Church;
+nevertheless I determined to make short work with the aggressor, that
+the righteous might not be subjected to the effect of his diabolical
+arts again.
+
+I say I was confined a month. I beg he that readeth to take note of
+this, that he may estimate how much the word, or even the oath, of a
+wicked man is to depend on. For a month I saw no one but such as came
+into my room, and, for all that, it will be seen that there were plenty
+of the same set to attest upon oath that I saw my brother every day
+during this period; that I persecuted him, with my presence day and
+night, while all the time I never saw his face save in a delusive
+dream. I cannot comprehend what manoeuvres my illustrious friend was
+playing off with them about this time; for he, having the art of
+personating whom he chose, had peradventure deceived them, else many of
+them had never all attested the same thing. I never saw any man so
+steady in his friendships and attentions as he; but as he made a rule
+of never calling at private houses, for fear of some discovery being
+made of his person, so I never saw him while my malady lasted; but, as
+soon as I grew better, I knew I had nothing ado but to attend at some
+of our places of meeting to see him again. He was punctual, as usual,
+and I had not to wait.
+
+My reception was precisely as I apprehended. There was no flaring, no
+flummery, nor bombastical pretensions, but a dignified return to my
+obeisance, and an immediate recurrence, in converse, to the important
+duties incumbent on us, in our stations, as reformers and purifiers of
+the Church.
+
+"I have marked out a number of most dangerous characters in this city,"
+said he, "all of whom must be cut off from cumbering the true vineyard
+before we leave this land. And, if you bestir not yourself in the work
+to which you are called, I must raise up others who shall have the
+honour of it!"
+
+"I am, most illustrious prince, wholly at your service," said I. "Show
+but what ought to be done, and here is the heart to dare and the hand
+to execute. You pointed out my relations, according to the flesh, as
+brands fitted to be thrown into the burning. I approve peremptorily of
+the award; nay, I thirst to accomplish it; for I myself have suffered
+severely from their diabolical arts. When once that trial of my
+devotion to the faith is accomplished, then be your future operations
+disclosed."
+
+"You are free of your words and promises," said he.
+
+"So will I be of my deeds in the service of my master, and that shalt
+thou see," said I. "I lack not the spirit, nor the will, but I lack
+experience woefully; and, because of that shortcoming, must bow to your
+suggestions!"
+
+"Meet me here to-morrow betimes," said he, "and perhaps you may hear of
+some opportunity of displaying your zeal in the cause of righteousness."
+
+I met him as he desired me; and he addressed me with a hurried and
+joyful expression, telling me that my brother was astir, and that a few
+minutes ago he had seen him pass on his way to the mountain. "The hill
+is wrapped in a cloud," added he, "and never was there such an
+opportunity of executing divine justice on a guilty sinner. You may
+trace him in the dew, and shall infallibly find him on the top of some
+precipice; for it is only in secret that he dares show his debased head
+to the sun."
+
+"I have no arms, else assuredly I would pursue him and discomfit him,"
+said I.
+
+"Here is a small dagger," said he; "I have nothing of weaponkind about
+me save that, but it is a potent one; and, should you require it, there
+is nothing more ready or sure."
+
+"Will not you accompany me?" said I. "Sure you will?"
+
+"I will be with you, or near you," said he. "Go you on before."
+
+I hurried away as he directed me, and imprudently asked some of
+Queensberry's guards if such and such a young man passed by them going
+out from the city. I was answered in the affirmative, and till then had
+doubted of my friend's intelligence, it was so inconsistent with a
+profligate's life to be so early astir. When I got the certain
+intelligence that my brother was before me, I fell a-running, scarcely
+knowing what I did; and, looking several times behind me, I perceived
+nothing of my zealous and arbitrary friend. The consequence of this was
+that, by the time I reached St. Anthony's well, my resolution began to
+give way. It was not my courage, for, now that I had once shed blood in
+the cause of the true faith, I was exceedingly bold and ardent, but,
+whenever I was left to myself, I was subject to sinful doubtings. These
+always hankered on one point. I doubted if the elect were infallible,
+and if the Scripture promises to them were binding in all situations
+and relations. I confess this, and that it was a sinful and shameful
+weakness in me, but my nature was subject to it, and I could not eschew
+it. I never doubted that I was one of the elect myself; for, besides
+the strong inward and spiritual conviction that I possessed, I had my
+kind father's assurance; and these had been revealed to him in that way
+and measure that they could not be doubted.
+
+In this desponding state, I sat myself down on a stone, and bethought
+me of the rashness of my undertaking. I tried to ascertain, to my own
+satisfaction, whether or not I really had been commissioned of God to
+perpetrate these crimes in His behalf, for, in the eyes and by the laws
+of men, they were great and crying transgressions. While I sat
+pondering on these things, I was involved in a veil of white misty
+vapour, and, looking up to heaven, I was just about to ask direction
+from above, when I heard as it were a still small voice close by me,
+which uttered some words of derision and chiding. I looked intensely in
+the direction whence it seemed to come, and perceived a lady robed in
+white, who hastened towards me. She regarded me with a severity of look
+and gesture that appalled me so much I could not address her; but she
+waited not for that, but coming close to my side said, without
+stopping: "Preposterous wretch! How dare you lift your eyes to Heaven
+with such purposes in your heart? Escape homewards, and save your Soul,
+or farewell for ever!"
+
+These were all the words that she uttered, as far as I could ever
+recollect, but my spirits were kept in such a tumult that morning that
+something might have escaped me. I followed her eagerly with my eyes,
+but in a moment she glided over the rocks above the holy well, and
+vanished. I persuaded myself that I had seen a vision, and that the
+radiant being that had addressed me was one of the good angels, or
+guardian spirits, commissioned by the Almighty to watch over the steps
+of the just. My first impulse was to follow her advice, and make my
+escape home; for I thought to myself. "How is this interested and
+mysterious foreigner a proper judge of the actions of a free Christian?"
+
+The thought was hardly framed, nor had I moved in a retrograde
+direction six steps, when I saw my illustrious friend and great adviser
+descending the ridge towards me with hasty and impassioned strides. My
+heart fainted within me; and, when he came up and addressed me, I
+looked as one caught in a trespass. "What hath detained thee, thou
+desponding trifler?" said he. "Verily now shall the golden opportunity
+be lost which may never be recalled. I have traced the reprobate to his
+sanctuary in the cloud, and lo he is perched on the pinnacle of a
+precipice an hundred fathoms high. One ketch with thy foot, or toss
+with thy finger, shall throw him from thy sight into the foldings of
+the cloud, and he shall be no more seen till found at the bottom of the
+cliff dashed to pieces. Make haste, therefore, thou loiterer, if thou
+wouldst ever prosper and rise to eminence in the work of thy Lord and
+Master."
+
+"I go no farther in this work," said I, "for I have seen a vision that
+has reprimanded the deed!'
+
+"A vision?" said he. "Was it that wench who descended from the hill?"
+
+"The being that spake to me, and warned me of my danger, was indeed in
+the form of a lady," said I.
+
+"She also approached me and said a few words," returned he, "and I
+thought there was something mysterious in her manner. Pray, what did
+she say? for the words of such a singular message, and from such a
+messenger, ought to be attended to. If I understood her aright, she was
+chiding us for our misbelief and preposterous delay."
+
+I recited her words, but he answered that I had been in a state of
+sinful doubting at the time, and it was to these doubtings she had
+adverted. In short, this wonderful and clear-sighted stranger soon
+banished all my doubts and despondency, making me utterly ashamed of
+them, and again I set out with him in the pursuit of my brother. He
+showed me the traces of his footsteps in the dew, and pointed out the
+spot where I should find him. "You have nothing more to do than go
+softly down behind him," said he, "which you can do to within an ell of
+him, without being seen; then rush upon him, and throw him from his
+seat, where there is neither footing nor hold. I will go, meanwhile,
+and amuse his sight by some exhibition in the contrary direction, and
+he shall neither know nor perceive who had done him this kind office:
+for, exclusive of more weighty concerns, be assured of this that, the
+sooner he falls, the fewer crimes will he have to answer for, and his
+estate in the other world will be proportionally more tolerable than if
+he spent a long unregenerate life steeped in iniquity to the loathing
+of the soul."
+
+"Nothing can be more plain or more pertinent," said I. "Therefore, I
+fly to perform that which is both a duty towards God and towards man!"
+
+"You shall yet rise to great honour and preferment," said he.
+
+"I value it not, provided I do honour and justice to the cause of my
+master here," said I.
+
+"You shall be lord of your father's riches and demesnes," added he.
+
+"I disclaim and deride every selfish motive thereto relating," said I,
+"further than as it enables me to do good."
+
+"Aye, but that is a great and a heavenly consideration, that longing
+for ability to do good," said he--and, as he said so, I could not help
+remarking a certain derisive exultation of expression which I could not
+comprehend; and indeed I have noted this very often in my illustrious
+friend, and sometimes mentioned it civilly to him, but he has never
+failed to disclaim it. On this occasion I said nothing, but, concealing
+his poniard in my clothes, I hasted up the mountain, determined to
+execute my purpose before any misgivings should again visit me; and I
+never had more ado than in keeping firm my resolution. I could not help
+my thoughts, and there are certain trains and classes of thoughts that
+have great power in enervating the mind. I thought of the awful thing
+of plunging a fellow creature from the top of a cliff into the dark and
+misty void below--of his being dashed to pieces on the protruding
+rocks, and of hearing his shrieks as he descended the cloud, and beheld
+the shagged points on which he was to alight. Then I thought of
+plunging a soul so abruptly into Hell, or, at the best, sending it to
+hover on the confines of that burning abyss--of its appearance at the
+bar of the Almighty to receive its sentence. And then I thought: "Will
+there not be a sentence pronounced against me there, by a jury of the
+just made perfect, and written down in the registers of Heaven?"
+
+These thoughts, I say, came upon me unasked, and, instead of being able
+to dispel them, they mustered upon the summit of my imagination in
+thicker and stronger array: and there was another that impressed me in
+a very particular manner, though I have reason to believe not so
+strongly as those above written. It was this: "What if I should fail in
+my first effort? Will the consequence not be that I am tumbled from the
+top of the rock myself?" and then all the feelings anticipated, with
+regard to both body and soul, must happen to me! This was a
+spinebreaking reflection; and yet, though the probability was rather on
+that side, my zeal in the cause of godliness was such that it carried
+me on, maugre all danger and dismay.
+
+I soon came close upon my brother, sitting on the dizzy pinnacle, with
+his eyes fixed steadfastly in the direction opposite to me. I descended
+the little green ravine behind him with my feet foremost, and every now
+and then raised my head, and watched his motions. His posture continued
+the same, until at last I came so near him I could have heard him
+breathe if his face had been towards me. I laid my cap aside, and made
+me ready to spring upon him and push him over. I could not for my life
+accomplish it! I do not think it was that I durst not, I have always
+felt my courage equal to anything in a good cause. But I had not the
+heart, or something that I ought to have had. In short, it was not done
+in time, as it easily might have been. These THOUGHTS are hard enemies
+wherewith to combat! And I was so grieved that I could not effect my
+righteous purpose that I laid me down on my face and shed tears. Then,
+again, I thought of what my great enlightened friend and patron would
+say to me, and again my resolution rose indignant and indissoluble save
+by blood. I arose on my right knee and left foot, and had just begun to
+advance the latter forward: the next step my great purpose had been
+accomplished, and the culprit had suffered the punishment due to his
+crimes. But what moved him I knew not: in the critical moment he sprung
+to his feet, and, dashing himself furiously against me, he overthrew
+me, at the imminent peril of my life. I disencumbered myself by main
+force and fled, but he overhied me, knocked me down, and threatened,
+with dreadful oaths, to throw me from the cliff. After I was a little
+recovered from the stunning blow, I aroused myself to the combat; and,
+though I do not recollect the circumstances of that deadly scuffle very
+minutely, I know that I vanquished him so far as to force him to ask my
+pardon, and crave a reconciliation. I spurned at both and left him to
+the chastisements of his own wicked and corrupt heart.
+
+My friend met me again on the hill and derided me in a haughty and
+stern manner for my imbecility and want of decision. I told him how
+nearly I had effected my purpose, and excused myself as well as I was
+able. On this, seeing me bleeding, he advised me to swear the peace
+against my brother, and have him punished in the meantime, he being the
+first aggressor. I promised compliance and we parted, for I was
+somewhat ashamed of my failure, and was glad to be quit for the present
+of one of whom I stood so much in awe.
+
+When my reverend father beheld me bleeding a second time by the hand of
+a brother, he was moved to the highest point of displeasure; and,
+relying on his high interest and the justice of his cause, he brought
+the matter at once before the courts. My brother and I were first
+examined face to face. His declaration was a mere romance: mine was not
+the truth; but as it was by the advice of my reverend father, and that
+of my illustrious friend, both of whom I knew to be sincere Christians
+and true believers, that I gave it, I conceived myself completely
+justified on that score. I said I had gone up into the mountain early
+on the morning to pray, and had withdrawn myself, for entire privacy,
+into a little sequestered dell--had laid aside my cap, and was in the
+act of kneeling when I was rudely attacked by my brother, knocked over,
+and nearly slain. They asked my brother if this was true. He
+acknowledged that it was; that I was bare-headed and in the act of
+kneeling when he ran foul of me without any intent of doing so. But the
+judge took him to task on the improbability of this, and put the
+profligate sore out of countenance. The rest of his tale told still
+worse, insomuch that he was laughed at by all present, for the judge
+remarked to him that, granting it was true that he had at first run
+against me on an open mountain and overthrown me by accident, how was
+it that, after I had extricated myself and fled, that he had pursued,
+overtaken, and knocked me down a second time? Would he pretend that all
+that was likewise by chance? The culprit had nothing to say for himself
+on this head, and I shall not forget my exultation and that of my
+reverend father when the sentence of the judge was delivered. It was
+that my wicked brother should be thrown into prison and tried on a
+criminal charge of assault and battery, with the intent of committing
+murder. This was a just and righteous judge, and saw things in their
+proper bearings, that is, he could discern between a righteous and a
+wicked man, and then there could be no doubt as to which of the two
+were acting right and which wrong.
+
+Had I not been sensible that a justified person could do nothing wrong,
+I should not have been at my ease concerning the statement I had been
+induced to give on this occasion. I could easily perceive that, by
+rooting out the weeds from the garden of the Church, I heightened the
+growth of righteousness; but, as to the tardy way of giving false
+evidence on matters of such doubtful issue, I confess I saw no great
+propriety in it from the beginning. But I now only moved by the will
+and mandate of my illustrious friend. I had no peace or comfort when
+out of his Sight, nor have I ever been able to boast of much in his
+presence; so true is it that a Christian's life is one of suffering.
+
+My time was now much occupied, along with my reverend preceptor, in
+making ready for the approaching trial, as the prosecutors. Our counsel
+assured us of a complete victory, and that banishment would be the
+mildest award of the law on the offender. Mark how different was the
+result! From the shifts and ambiguities of a wicked Bench, who had a
+fellow-feeling of iniquity with the defenders, my suit was lost, the
+graceless libertine was absolved, and I was incarcerated, and bound
+over to keep the peace, with heavy penalties, before I was set at
+liberty.
+
+I was exceedingly disgusted at this issue, and blamed the counsel of my
+friend to his face. He expressed great grief, and expatiated on the
+wickedness of our judicatories, adding: "I see I cannot depend on you
+for quick and summary measures, but for your sake I shall be revenged
+on that wicked judge, and that you shall see in a few days." The Lord
+Justice Clerk died that same week! But he died in his own house and his
+own bed, and by what means my friend effected it I do not know. He
+would not tell me a single word of the matter, but the judge's sudden
+death made a great noise, and I made so many curious inquiries
+regarding the particulars of it that some suspicions were like to
+attach to our family of some unfair means used. For my part I know
+nothing, and rather think he died by the visitation of Heaven, and that
+my friend had foreseen it, by symptoms, and soothed me by promises of
+complete revenge.
+
+It was some days before he mentioned my brother's meditated death to me
+again, and certainly he then found me exasperated against him
+personally to the highest degree. But I told him that I could not now
+think any more of it owing to the late judgment of the court, by which,
+if my brother were missing or found dead, I would not only forfeit my
+life but my friends would be ruined by the penalties.
+
+"I suppose you know and believe in the perfect safety of your soul,"
+said he, "and that that is a matter settled from the beginning of time,
+and now sealed and ratified both in Heaven and earth?"
+
+"I believe in it thoroughly and perfectly," said I; "and, whenever I
+entertain doubts of it, I am sensible of sin and weakness."
+
+"Very well, so then am I," said he. "I think I can now divine, with all
+manner of certainty, what will be the high and merited guerdon of your
+immortal part. Hear me then further: I give you my solemn assurance,
+and bond of blood, that no human hand shall ever henceforth be able to
+injure your life, or shed one drop of your precious blood; but it is on
+the condition that you walk always by my directions."
+
+"I will do so with cheerfulness," said I, "for, without your
+enlightened counsel, I feel that I can do nothing. But, as to your
+power of protecting my life, you must excuse me for doubting of it.
+Nay, were we in your proper dominions, you could not ensure that."
+
+"In whatever dominion or land I am, my power accompanies me," said he,
+"and it is only against human might and human weapon that I ensure your
+life; on that will I keep an eye, and on that you may depend. I have
+never broken word or promise with you. Do you credit me?"
+
+"Yes, I do," said I, "for I see you are in earnest. I believe, though I
+do not comprehend you."
+
+"Then why do you not at once challenge your brother to the field of
+honour? Seeing you now act without danger, cannot you also act without
+fear?"
+
+"It is not fear," returned I, "believe me. I hardly know what fear is.
+It is a doubt that, on all these emergencies, constantly haunts my mind
+that, in performing such and such actions, I may fall from my upright
+state. This makes fratricide a fearful task!'
+
+"This is imbecility itself," said he. "We have settled and agreed on
+that point an hundred times. I would therefore advise that you
+challenge your brother to single combat. I shall ensure your safety,
+and he cannot refuse giving you satisfaction."
+
+"But then the penalties?" said I.
+
+"We will try to evade these," said he, "and, supposing you should be
+caught, if once you are Laird of Dalcastle and Balgrennan, what are the
+penalties to you?"
+
+"Might we not rather pop him off in private and quietness, as we did
+the deistical divine?" said I.
+
+"The deed would be alike meritorious, either way," said he. "But may we
+not wait for years before we find an opportunity? My advice is to
+challenge him, as privately as you will, and there cut him off."
+
+"So be it then," said I. "When the moon is at the full, I will send for
+him forth to speak with one, and there will I smite him and slay him,
+and he shall trouble the righteous no more."
+
+"Then this is the very night," said he, "The moon is nigh to the full,
+and this night your brother and his sinful mates hold carousal; for
+there is an intended journey to-morrow. The exulting profligate leaves
+town, where we must remain till the time of my departure hence; and
+then is he safe, and must live to dishonour God, and not only destroy
+his own soul but those of many others. Alack, and woe is me! The sins
+that he and his friends will commit this very night will cry to Heaven
+against us for our shameful delay! When shall our great work of
+cleansing the sanctuary be finished, if we proceed at this puny rate?"
+
+"I see the deed must be done, then," said I, "and, since it is so, it
+shall be done. I will arm myself forthwith, and from the midst of his
+wine and debauchery you shall call him forth to me, and there will I
+smite him with the edge of the sword, that our great work be not
+retarded."
+
+"If thy execution were equal to thy intent, how great a man you soon
+might be!" said he. "We shall make the attempt once more; and, if it
+fail again, why, I must use other means to bring about my high purposes
+relating to mankind. Home and make ready. I will go and procure what
+information I can regarding their motions, and will meet you in
+disguise twenty minutes hence, at the first turn of Hewie's Lane beyond
+the loch."
+
+"I have nothing to make ready," said I, "for I do not choose to go
+home. Bring me a sword, and we may consecrate it with prayer and vows,
+and, if I use it not to the bringing down of the wicked and profane,
+then may the Lord do so to me, and more also!"
+
+We parted, and there was I left again to the multiplicity of my own
+thoughts for the space of twenty minutes, a thing my friend never
+failed in subjecting me to, and these were worse to contend with than
+hosts of sinful men. I prayed inwardly that these deeds of mine might
+never be brought to the knowledge of men who were incapable of
+appreciating the high motives that led to them; and then I sung part of
+the 10th Psalm, likewise in spirit; but, for all these efforts, my
+sinful doubts returned, so that when my illustrious friend joined me,
+and proffered me the choice of two gilded rapiers, I declined accepting
+any of them, and began, in a very bold and energetic manner, to express
+my doubts regarding the justification of all the deeds of perfect men.
+He chided me severely and branded me with cowardice, a thing that my
+nature never was subject to; and then he branded me with falsehood and
+breach of the most solemn engagements both to God and man.
+
+I was compelled to take the rapier, much against my inclination; but,
+for all the arguments, threats, and promises that he could use, I would
+not consent to send a challenge to my brother by his mouth. There was
+one argument only that he made use of which had some weight with me,
+but yet it would not preponderate. He told me my brother was gone to a
+notorious and scandalous habitation of women, and that, if I left him
+to himself for ever so short a space longer, it might embitter his
+state through ages to come. This was a trying concern to me; but I
+resisted it, and reverted to my doubts. On this he said that he had
+meant to do me honour, but, since I put it out of his power, he would
+do the deed, and take the responsibility on himself. "I have with sore
+travail procured a guardship of your life," added he. "For my own, I
+have not; but, be that as it will, I shall not be baffled in my
+attempts to benefit my friends without a trial. You will at all events
+accompany me, and see that I get justice?"
+
+"Certes, I will do thus much," said I, "and woe be to him if his arm
+prevail against my friend and patron!"
+
+His lip curled with a smile of contempt, which I could hardly brook;
+and I began to be afraid that the eminence to which I had been destined
+by him was already fading from my view. And I thought what I should
+then do to ingratiate myself again with him, for without his
+countenance I had no life. "I will be a man in act," thought I, "but in
+sentiment I will not yield, and for this he must surely admire me the
+more."
+
+As we emerged from the shadowy lane into the fair moonshine, I started
+so that my whole frame underwent the most chilling vibrations of
+surprise. I again thought I had been taken at unawares and was
+conversing with another person. My friend was equipped in the Highland
+garb, and so completely translated into another being that, save by his
+speech, all the senses of mankind could not have recognized him. I
+blessed myself, and asked whom it was his pleasure to personify
+to-night? He answered me carelessly that it was a spark whom he meant
+should bear the blame of whatever might fall out to-night; and that was
+all that passed on the subject.
+
+We proceeded by some stone steps at the foot of the North Loch, in hot
+argument all the way. I was afraid that our conversation might be
+overheard, for the night was calm and almost as light as day, and we
+saw sundry people crossing us as we advanced. But the zeal of my friend
+was so high that he disregarded all danger, and continued to argue
+fiercely and loudly on my delinquency, as he was pleased to call it. I
+stood on one argument alone, which was that "I did not think the
+Scripture promises to the elect, taken in their utmost latitude,
+warranted the assurance that they could do no wrong; and that,
+therefore, it behoved every man to look well to his steps."
+
+There was no religious scruple that irritated my enlightened friend and
+master so much as this. He could not endure it. And, the sentiments of
+our great covenanted reformers being on his side, there is not a doubt
+that I was wrong. He lost all patience on hearing what I advanced on
+this matter, and, taking hold of me, he led me into a darksome booth in
+a confined entry; and, after a friendly but cutting reproach, he bade
+me remain there in secret and watch the event. "And, if I fall," said
+he, "you will not fail to avenge my death?"
+
+I was so entirely overcome with vexation that I could make no answer,
+on which he left me abruptly, a prey to despair; and I saw or heard no
+more till he came down to the moonlight green followed by my brother.
+They had quarrelled before they came within my hearing, for the first
+words I heard were those of my brother, who was in a state of
+intoxication, and he was urging a reconciliation, as was his wont on
+such occasions. My friend spurned at the suggestion, and dared him to
+the combat; and after a good deal of boastful altercation, which the
+turmoil of my spirits prevented me from remembering, my brother was
+compelled to draw his sword and stand on the defensive. It was a
+desperate and terrible engagement. I at first thought that the royal
+stranger and great champion of the faith would overcome his opponent
+with ease, for I considered Heaven as on his side, and nothing but the
+arm of sinful flesh against him. But I was deceived. The sinner stood
+firm as a rock, while the assailant flitted about like a shadow, or
+rather like a spirit. I smiled inwardly, conceiving that these
+lightsome manoeuvres were all a sham to show off his art and mastership
+in the exercise, and that, whenever they came to close fairly, that
+instant my brother would be overcome. Still I was deceived. My
+brother's arm seemed invincible, so that the closer they fought the
+more palpably did it prevail. They fought round the green to the very
+edge of the water, and so round till they came close up to the covert
+where I stood. There being no more room to shift ground, my brother
+then forced him to come to close quarters, on which, the former still
+having the decided advantage, my friend quitted his sword and called
+out. I could resist no longer; so, springing from my concealment, I
+rushed between them with my sword drawn, and parted them as if they had
+been two schoolboys: then, turning to my brother, I addressed him as
+follows: "Wretch! miscreant! knowest thou what thou art attempting?
+Wouldest thou lay thine hand on the Lord's anointed, or shed his
+precious blood? Turn thee to me, that I may chastise thee for all thy
+wickedness, and not for the many injuries thou hast done to me!" To it
+we went, with full thirst of vengeance on every side. The duel was
+fierce; but the might of Heaven prevailed, and not my might. The
+ungodly and reprobate young man fell covered with wounds, and with
+curses and blasphemy in his mouth, while I escaped uninjured. Thereto
+his power extended not.
+
+I will not deny that my own immediate impressions of this affair in
+some degree differed from this statement. But this is precisely as my
+illustrious friend described it to be afterwards, and I can rely
+implicitly on his information, as he was at that time a looker-on, and
+my senses all in a state of agitation, and he could have no motive for
+saying what was not the positive truth.
+
+Never till my brother was down did we perceive that there had been
+witnesses to the whole business. Our ears were then astounded by rude
+challenges of unfair play, which were quite appalling to me; but my
+friend laughed at them and conducted me off in perfect safety. As to
+the unfairness of the transaction, I can say thus much, that my royal
+friend's sword was down ere ever mine was presented. But if it still be
+accounted unfair to take up a conqueror, and punish him in his own way,
+I answer: That if a man is sent on a positive mission by his master,
+and hath laid himself under vows to do his work, he ought not to be too
+nice in the means of accomplishing it; and, further, I appeal to holy
+writ, wherein many instances are recorded of the pleasure the Lord
+takes in the final extinction of the wicked and profane; and this
+position I take to be unanswerable.
+
+I was greatly disturbed in my mind for many days, knowing that the
+transaction had been witnessed, and sensible also of the perilous
+situation I occupied, owing to the late judgment of the court against
+me. But on the contrary, I never saw my enlightened friend in such high
+spirits. He assured me there was no danger; and again repeated that he
+warranted my life against the power of man. I thought proper, however,
+to remain in hiding for a week; but, as he said, to my utter amazement,
+the blame fell on another, who was not only accused but pronounced
+guilty by the general voice, and outlawed for non-appearance! How could
+I doubt, after this, that the hand of Heaven was aiding and abetting
+me? The matter was beyond my comprehension; and, as for my friend, he
+never explained anything that was past, but his activity and art were
+without a parallel.
+
+He enjoyed our success mightily; and for his sake I enjoyed it
+somewhat, but it was on account of his comfort only, for I could not
+for my life perceive in what degree the Church was better or purer than
+before these deeds were done. He continued to flatter me with great
+things, as to honours, fame and emolument; and, above all, with the
+blessing and protection of Him to whom my body and soul were dedicated.
+But, after these high promises, I got no longer peace; for he began to
+urge the death of my father with such an unremitting earnestness that I
+found I had nothing for it but to comply. I did so; and cannot express
+his enthusiasm of approbation. So much did he hurry and press me in
+this that I was forced to devise some of the most openly violent
+measures, having no alternative. Heaven spared me the deed, taking, in
+that instance, the vengeance in its own hand; for, before my arm could
+effect the sanguine but meritorious act, the old man followed his son
+to the grave. My illustrious and zealous friend seemed to regret this
+somewhat, but he comforted himself with the reflection, that still I
+had the merit of it, having not only consented to it, but in fact
+effected it, for by doing the one action I had brought about both.
+
+No sooner were the obsequies of the funeral over than my friend and I
+went to Dalcastle, and took undisputed possession of the houses, lands
+and effects that had been my father's; but his plate, and vast
+treasures of ready money, he had bestowed on a voluptuous and unworthy
+creature, who had lived long with him as a mistress. Fain would I have
+sent her after her lover, and gave my friend some hints on the
+occasion; but he only shook his head, and said that we must lay all
+selfish and interested motives out of the question.
+
+For a long time, when I awaked in the morning, I could not believe my
+senses, that I was indeed the undisputed and sole proprietor of so much
+wealth and grandeur; and I felt so much gratified that I immediately
+set about doing all the good I was able, hoping to meet with all
+approbation and encouragement from my friend. I was mistaken. He
+checked the very first impulses towards such a procedure, questioned my
+motives, and uniformly made them out to be wrong. There was one morning
+that a servant said to me there was a lady in the back chamber who
+wanted to speak with me, but he could not tell me who it was, for all
+the old servants had left the mansion, every one on hearing of the
+death of the late laird, and those who had come knew none of the people
+in the neighbourhood. From several circumstances, I had suspicions of
+private confabulations with women, and refused to go to her, but bid
+the servant inquire what she wanted. She would not tell, she could only
+state the circumstances to me; so I, being sensible that a little
+dignity of manner became me in my elevated situation, returned for
+answer that, if it was business that could not be transacted by my
+steward, it must remain untransacted. The answer which the servant
+brought back was of a threatening nature. She stated she must see me,
+and, if I refused her satisfaction there, she would compel it where I
+should not evite her.
+
+My friend and director appeared pleased with my dilemma, and rather
+advised that I should hear what the woman had to say; on which I
+consented, provided she would deliver her mission in his presence. She
+came with manifest signs of anger and indignation, and began with a
+bold and direct charge against me of a shameful assault on one of her
+daughters; of having used the basest of means in order to lead her
+aside from the paths of rectitude; and, on the failure of these, of
+having resorted to the most unqualified measures.
+
+I denied the charge in all its bearings, assuring the dame that I had
+never so much as seen either of her daughters to my knowledge, far less
+wronged them; on which she got into great wrath, and abused me to my
+face as an accomplished vagabond, hypocrite, and sensualist; and she
+went so far as to tell me roundly that if I did not marry her daughter,
+she would bring me to the gallows and that in a very short time.
+
+"Marry your daughter, honest woman!" said I, "on the faith of a
+Christian, I never saw your daughter; and you may rest assured in this,
+that I will neither marry you nor her. Do you consider how short a time
+I have been in this place? How much that time has been occupied? And
+how there was even a possibility that I could have accomplished such
+villainies?"
+
+"And how long does your Christian reverence suppose you have remained
+in this place since the late laird's death?" said she.
+
+"That is too well known to need recapitulation," said I. "Only a very
+few days, though I cannot at present specify the exact number; perhaps
+from thirty to forty, or so. But in all that time, certes, I have never
+seen either you or any of your two daughters that you talk of. You must
+be quite sensible of that."
+
+My friend shook his head three times during this short sentence, while
+the woman held up her hands in amazement and disgust, exclaiming:
+"There goes the self-righteous one! There goes the consecrated youth,
+who cannot err! You, sir, know, and the world shall know, of the faith
+that is in this most just, devout, and religious miscreant! Can you
+deny that you have already been in this place four months and seven
+days? Or that in that time you have been forbid my house twenty times?
+Or that you have persevered in your endeavours to effect the basest and
+most ungenerous of purposes? Or that you have  attained them? Hypocrite
+and deceiver as you are! Yes, sir; I say, dare you deny that you have
+attained your vile, selfish, and degrading purposes towards a young,
+innocent, and unsuspecting creature, and thereby ruined a poor widow's
+only hope in this world? No, you cannot look in my face, and deny aught
+of this."
+
+"The woman is raving mad!" said I. "You, illustrious sir, know that, in
+the first instance, I have not yet been in this place one month." My
+friend shook his head again, and answered me: "You are wrong, my dear
+friend; you are wrong. It is indeed the space of time that the lady
+hath stated, to a day, since you came here, and I came with you; and I
+am sorry that I know for certain that you have been frequently haunting
+her house, and have often had private correspondence with one of the
+young ladies, too. Of the nature of it I presume not to know."
+
+"You are mocking me," said I. "But as well may you try to reason me out
+of my existence as to convince me that I have been here even one month,
+or that any of those things you allege against me has the shadow of
+truth or evidence to support it. I will swear to you, by the great God
+that made me; and by--"
+
+"Hold, thou most abandoned profligate!" cried she violently, "and do
+not add perjury to your other detestable crimes. Do not, for mercy's
+sake, any more profane that name whose attributes you have wrested and
+disgraced. But tell me what reparation you propose offering to my
+injured child."
+
+"I again declare, before Heaven, woman, that, to the best of my
+knowledge and recollection, I never saw your daughter. I now think I
+have some faint recollection of having seen your face, but where, or in
+what place, puzzles me quite."
+
+"And, why?" said she. "Because for months and days you have been, in
+such a state of extreme inebriety, that your time has gone over like a
+dream that has been forgotten. I believe that, from the day you came
+first to my house, you have been in a state of utter delirium, and that
+principally from the fumes of wine and ardent spirits."
+
+"It is a manifest falsehood!" said I. "I have never, since I entered on
+the possession of Dalcastle, tasted wine or spirits, saving once a few
+evenings ago; and, I confess to my shame, that I was led too far; but I
+have craved forgiveness and obtained it. I take my noble and
+distinguished friend there for a witness to the truth of what I assert;
+a man who has done more, and sacrificed more for the sake of genuine
+Christianity than any this world contains. Him you will believe."
+
+"I hope you have attained forgiveness," said he, seriously. "Indeed it
+would be next to blasphemy to doubt it. But, of late, you have been
+very much addicted to intemperance. I doubt if, from the first night
+you tasted the delights of drunkenness, that you have ever again been
+in your right mind until Monday last. Doubtless you have been for a
+good while most diligent in your addresses to this lady's daughter."
+
+"This is unaccountable," said I. "It is impossible that I can have been
+doing a thing and not doing it at the same time. But indeed, honest
+woman, there have several incidents occurred to me in the course of my
+life which persuade me I have a second self; or that there is some
+other being who appears in my likeness."
+
+Here my friend interrupted me with a sneer, and a hint that I was
+talking insanely; and then he added, turning to the lady: "I know my
+friend Mr. Colwan will do what is just and, right. Go and bring the
+young lady to him, that he may see her, and he will then recollect all
+his former amours with her!'
+
+"I humbly beg your pardon, sir," said I. "But the mention of such a
+thing as amours with any woman existing, to me, is really so absurd, so
+far from my principles, so from the purity of nature and frame to which
+I was born and consecrated, that I hold it as an insult, and regard it
+with contempt."
+
+I would have said more in reprobation of such an idea, had not my
+servant entered, and said that a gentleman wanted to see me on
+business. Being glad of an opportunity of getting quit of my lady
+visitor, I ordered the servant to show him in; and forthwith a little
+lean gentleman, with a long aquiline nose, and a bald head, daubed all
+over with powder and pomatum, entered. I thought I recollected having
+seen him too, but could not remember his name, though he spoke to me
+with the greatest familiarity; at least, that sort of familiarity that
+an official person generally assumes. He bustled about and about,
+speaking to everyone, but declined listening for a single moment to
+any. The lady offered to withdraw, but he stopped her.
+
+"No, no, Mrs. Keeler, you need not go; you need not go; you must not
+go, madam. The business I came about concerns you--yes, that it does.
+Bad business yon of Walker's? Eh? Could not help it--did all I could,
+Mr. Wringhim. Done your business. Have it all cut and dry here, sir.
+No, this is not it--Have it among them, though.--I'm at a little loss
+for your name, sir (addressing my friend)--seen you very often,
+though--exceedingly often--quite well acquainted with you."
+
+"No, sir, you are not," said my friend, sternly. The intruder never
+regarded him; never so much as lifted his eyes from his bundle of law
+papers, among which he was bustling with great hurry and importance,
+but went on:
+
+"Impossible! Have seen a face very like it, then--what did you say your
+name was, sir?--very like it indeed. Is it not the young laird who was
+murdered whom you resemble so much?"
+
+Here Mrs. Keeler uttered a scream, which so much startled me that it
+seems I grew pale, and, on looking at my friend's face, there was
+something struck me so forcibly in the likeness between him and my late
+brother that I had very nearly fainted. The woman exclaimed that it was
+my brother's spirit that stood beside me.
+
+"Impossible!" exclaimed the attorney. "At least, I hope not, else his
+signature is not worth a pin. There is some balance due on yon
+business, madam. Do you wish your account? because I have it here,
+ready discharged, and it does not suit letting such things lie over.
+This business of Mr. Colwan's will be a severe one on you,
+madam--rather a severe one."
+
+"What business of mine, if it be your will, sir," said I. "For my part
+I never engaged you in business of any sort less or more." He never
+regarded me, but went on: "You may appeal, though. Yes, yes, there are
+such things as appeals for the refractory. Here it is, gentlemen. Here
+they are all together. Here is, in the first place, sir, your power of
+attorney, regularly warranted, sealed, and signed with your own hand."
+
+"I declare solemnly that I never signed that document," said I.
+
+"Aye, aye, the system of denial is not a bad one in general," said my
+attorney. "But at present there is no occasion for it. You do not deny
+your own hand?"
+
+"I deny everything connected with the business," cried I. "I disclaim
+it in toto, and declare that I know no more about it than the child
+unborn."
+
+"That is exceedingly good!" exclaimed he. "I like your pertinacity
+vastly! I have three of your letters, and three of your signatures;
+that part is all settled, and I hope so is the whole affair; for here
+is the original grant to your father, which he has never thought proper
+to put in requisition. Simple gentleman! But here have I, Lawyer
+Linkum, in one hundredth part of the time that any other notary,
+writer, attorney, or writer of the signet in Britain would have done
+it, procured the signature of His Majesty's commissioner, and thereby
+confirmed the charter to you and your house, sir, for ever and
+ever--Begging your pardon, madam." The lady, as well as myself, tried
+several times to interrupt the loquacity of Linkum, but in vain: he
+only raised his hand with a quick flourish, and went on:
+
+"Here it is:
+
+JAMES, by the grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland,
+to his right trusty cousin, sendeth greeting: And whereas his right
+leal and trust-worthy cousin, George Colwan, of Dalcastle and
+Balgrennan, hath suffered great losses, and undergone much hardship, on
+behalf of his Majesty's rights and titles; he therefore, for himself,
+and as prince and steward of Scotland, and by the consent of his right
+trusty cousins and councillors hereby grants to the said George Colwan,
+his heirs and assignees whatsomever, heritably and irrevocably, all and
+haill the lands and others underwritten: To wit, All and haill, the
+five merk land of Kipplerig; the five pound land of Easter Knockward,
+with all the towers, fortalices, manor-places, houses, biggings, yards,
+orchards, tofts, crofts, mills, woods, fishings, mosses, muirs,
+meadows, commonties, pasturages, coals, coal-heughs, tennants,
+tenantries, services of free tenants, annexes, connexes, dependencies,
+parts, pendicles, and pertinents of the same whatsomever; to be
+peaceably brooked, joysed, set, used, and disposed of by him and his
+aboves, as specified, heritably and irrevocably, in all time coming:
+And, in testimony thereof, his Majesty, for himself, and as prince
+steward of Scotland, with the advice and consent of his foresaids,
+knowledge, proper motive, and kingly power, makes, erects, creates,
+unites, annexes, and incorporates, the whole lands above mentioned in a
+haill and free barony, by all the rights, miethes, and marches thereof,
+old and divided, as the same lies, in length and breadth, in houses,
+biggings, mills, multures, hawking, bunting, fishing; with court,
+plaint, herezeld, fock, fork, sack, sock, thole, thame, vert, wraik,
+waith, wair, venison, outfang thief, infang thief, pit and gallows, and
+all and sundry other commodities. Given at our Court of Whitehall, &c.,
+&c. God save the King.
+
+Compositio 5 lib. 13.8.
+
+Registrate 26th September 1687.
+
+"See, madam, here are ten signatures of privy councillors of that year,
+and here are other ten of the present year, with His Grace the Duke of
+Queensberry at the head. All right. See here it is, sir--all
+right--done your work. So you see, madam, this gentleman is the true
+and sole heritor of all the land that your father possesses, with all
+the rents thereof for the last twenty years, and upwards. Fine job for
+my employers! Sorry on your account, madam--can't help it."
+
+I was again going to disclaim all interest or connection in the matter
+but my friend stopped me; and the plaints and lamentations of the dame
+became so overpowering that they put an end to all further colloquy;
+but Lawyer Linkum followed me, and stated his great outlay, and the
+important services he had rendered me, until I was obliged to subscribe
+an order to him for L100 on my banker.
+
+I was now glad to retire with my friend, and ask seriously for some
+explanation of all this. It was in the highest degree unsatisfactory.
+He confirmed all that had been stated to me; assuring me that I had not
+only been assiduous in my endeavours to seduce a young lady of great
+beauty, which it seemed I had effected, but that I had taken counsel,
+and got this supposed, old, false, and forged grant raked up and now
+signed, to ruin the young lady's family quite, so as to throw her
+entirely on myself for protection, and be wholly at my will.
+
+This was to me wholly incomprehensible. I could have freely made oath
+to the contrary of every particular. Yet the evidences were against me,
+and of a nature not to be denied. Here I must confess that, highly as I
+disapproved of the love of women, and all intimacies and connections
+with the sex, I felt a sort of indefinite pleasure, an ungracious
+delight in having a beautiful woman solely at my disposal. But I
+thought of her spiritual good in the meantime. My friend spoke of my
+backslidings with concern; requesting me to make sure of my
+forgiveness, and to forsake them; and then he added some words of sweet
+comfort. But from this time forth I began to be sick at times of my
+existence. I had heart-burnings, longings, and, yearnings that would
+not be satisfied; and I seemed hardly to be an accountable creature;
+being thus in the habit of executing transactions of the utmost moment
+without being sensible that I did them. I was a being incomprehensible
+to myself. Either I had a second self, who transacted business in my
+likeness, or else my body was at times possessed by a spirit over which
+it had no control, and of whose actions my own soul was wholly
+unconscious. This was an anomaly not to be accounted for by any
+philosophy of mine, and I was many times, in contemplating it, excited
+to terrors and mental torments hardly describable. To be in a state of
+consciousness and unconsciousness, at the same time, in the same body
+and same spirit, was impossible. I was under the greatest anxiety,
+dreading some change would take place momently in my nature; for of
+dates I could make nothing: one-half, or two-thirds of my time, seemed
+to me totally lost. I often, about this time, prayed with great
+fervour, and lamented my hopeless condition, especially in being liable
+to the commission of crimes which I was not sensible of and could not
+eschew. And I confess, notwithstanding the promises on which I had been
+taught to rely, I began to have secret terrors that the great enemy of
+man's salvation was exercising powers over me that might eventually
+lead to my ruin. These were but temporary and sinful fears, but they
+added greatly to my unhappiness.
+
+The worst thing of all was what hitherto I had never felt, and, as yet,
+durst not confess to myself, that the presence of my illustrious and
+devoted friend was becoming irksome to me. When I was by myself, I
+breathed freer, and my step was lighter; but, when he approached, a
+pang went to my heart, and, in his company, I moved and acted as if
+under a load that I could hardly endure. What a state to be in! And yet
+to shake him off was impossible--we were incorporated
+together--identified with one another, as it were, and the power was
+not in me to separate myself from him. I still knew nothing who he was,
+further than that he was a potentate of some foreign land, bent on
+establishing some pure and genuine doctrines of Christianity, hitherto
+only half understood, and less than half exercised. Of this I could
+have no doubts after all that he had said, done and suffered in the
+cause. But, alongst with this, I was also certain that he was possessed
+of some supernatural power, of the source of which I was wholly
+ignorant. That a man could be a Christian and at the same time a
+powerful necromancer, appeared inconsistent, and adverse to every
+principle taught in our Church and from this I was led to believe that
+he inherited his powers from on high, for I could not doubt either of
+the soundness of his principles or that he accomplished things
+impossible to account for. Thus was I sojourning in the midst of a
+chaos of confusion. I looked back on my by-past life with pain, as one
+looks back on a perilous journey, in which he has attained his end,
+without gaining any advantage either to himself or others; and I looked
+forward, as on a darksome waste, full of repulsive and terrific shapes,
+pitfalls, and precipices, to which there was no definite bourn, and
+from which I turned with disgust. With my riches, my unhappiness was
+increased tenfold; and here, with another great acquisition of
+property, for which I had pleaed, and which I had gained in a dream, my
+miseries and difficulties were increasing. My principal feeling, about
+this time, was an insatiable longing for something that I cannot
+describe or denominate properly, unless I say it was for utter oblivion
+that I longed. I desired to sleep; but it was for a deeper and longer
+sleep than that in which the senses were nightly steeped. I longed to
+be at rest and quiet, and close my eyes on the past and the future
+alike, as far as this frail life was concerned. But what had been
+formerly and finally settled in the councils above, I presumed not to
+call in question.
+
+In this state of irritation and misery was I dragging on an existence,
+disgusted with all around me, and in particular with my mother, who,
+with all her love and anxiety, had such an insufferable mode of
+manifesting them that she had by this time rendered herself exceedingly
+obnoxious to me. The very sound of her voice at a distance went to my
+heart like an arrow, and made all my nerves to shrink; and, as for the
+beautiful young lady for whom they told me I had been so much
+enamoured, I shunned all intercourse with her or hers, as I would have
+done with the Devil. I read some of their letters and burnt them, but
+refused to see either the young lady or her mother on any account.
+
+About this time it was that my worthy and reverend parent came with one
+of his elders to see my mother and myself. His presence always brought
+joy with it into our family, for my mother was uplifted, and I had so
+few who cared for me, or for whom I cared, that I felt rather gratified
+at seeing him. My illustrious friend was also much more attached to him
+than any other person (except myself) for their religious principles
+tallied in every point, and their conversation was interesting,
+serious, and sublime. Being anxious to entertain well and highly the
+man to whom I had been so much indebted, and knowing that, with all his
+integrity and righteousness, he disdained not the good things of this
+life, I brought from the late laird's well-stored cellars various
+fragrant and salubrious wines, and we drank, and became merry, and I
+found that my miseries and overpowering calamities passed away over my
+head like a shower that is driven by the wind. I became elevated and
+happy, and welcomed my guests an hundred times; and then I joined them
+in religious conversation, with a zeal and enthusiasm which I had not
+often experienced, and which made all their hearts rejoice, so that I
+said to myself. "Surely every gift of God is a blessing, and ought to
+be used with liberality and thankfulness."
+
+The next day I waked from a profound and feverish sleep, and called for
+something to drink. There was a servant answered whom I had never seen
+before, and he was clad in my servant's clothes and livery. I asked for
+Andrew Handyside, the servant who had waited at table the night before;
+but the man answered with a stare and a smile:
+
+"What do you mean, sirrah," said I. "Pray what do you here? Or what are
+you pleased to laugh at? I desire you to go about your business, and
+send me up Handyside. I want him to bring me something to drink."
+
+"Ye sanna want a drink, maister," said the fellow. "Tak a hearty ane,
+and see if it will wauken ye up something, sae that ye dinna ca' for
+ghaists through your sleep. Surely ye haena forgotten that Andrew
+Handyside has been in his grave these six months?"
+
+This was a stunning blow to me. I could not answer further, but sunk
+back on my pillow as if I had been a lump of lead, refusing to take a
+drink or anything else at the fellow's hand, who seemed thus mocking me
+with so grave a face. The man seemed sorry, and grieved at my being
+offended, but I ordered him away, and continued sullen and thoughtful.
+Could I have again been for a season in utter oblivion to myself, and
+transacting business which I neither approved of nor had any connection
+with! I tried to recollect something in which I might have been
+engaged, but nothing was portrayed on my mind subsequent to the parting
+with my friends at a late hour the evening before. The evening before
+it certainly was: but, if so, how came it that Andrew Handyside, who
+served at table that evening, should have been in his grave six months!
+This was a circumstance somewhat equivocal; therefore, being afraid to
+arise lest accusations of I know not what might come against me, I was
+obliged to call once more in order to come at what intelligence I
+could. The same fellow appeared to receive my orders as before, and I
+set about examining him with regard to particulars. He told me his name
+was Scrape; that I hired him myself; of whom I hired him; and at whose
+recommendation I smiled, and nodded so as to let the knave see I
+understood he was telling me a chain of falsehoods, but did not choose
+to begin with any violent asseverations to the contrary.
+
+"And where is my noble friend and companion?" said I. "How has he been
+engaged in the interim?"
+
+"I dinna ken him, sir," said Scrape, "but have heard it said that the
+strange mysterious person that attended you, him that the maist part of
+folks countit uncanny, had gane awa wi' a Mr. Ringan o' Glasko last
+year, and had never returned."
+
+I thanked the Lord in my heart for this intelligence, hoping that the
+illustrious stranger had returned to his own land and people, and that
+I should thenceforth be rid of his controlling and appalling presence.
+"And where is my mother?" said, I. The man's breath cut short, and he
+looked at me without returning any answer.--"I ask you where my mother
+is?" said I.
+
+"God only knows, and not I, where she is," returned he. "He knows where
+her soul is, and, as for her body, if you dinna ken something o' it, I
+suppose nae man alive does."
+
+"What do you mean, you knave?" said I. "What dark hints are these you
+are throwing out? Tell me precisely and distinctly what you know of my
+mother?"
+
+"It is unco queer o' ye to forget, or pretend to forget everything that
+gate the day, sir," said he. "I'm sure you heard enough about it
+yestreen; an' I can tell you there are some gayan ill-faurd stories
+gaun about that business. But, as the thing is to be tried afore the
+circuit lords, it wad be far wrang to say either this or that to
+influence the public mind; it is best just to let justice tak its swee.
+I hae naething to say, sir. Ye hae been a good enough maister to me,
+and paid my wages regularly, but ye hae muckle need to be innocent, for
+there are some heavy accusations rising against you."
+
+"I fear no accusations of man," said I, "as long as I can justify my
+cause in the sight of Heaven; and that I can do this I am well aware.
+Go you and bring me some wine and water, and some other clothes than
+these gaudy and glaring ones."
+
+I took a cup of wine and water; put on my black clothes and walked out.
+For all the perplexity that surrounded me, I felt my spirits
+considerably buoyant. It appeared that I was rid of the two greatest
+bars to my happiness, by what agency I knew not. My mother, it seemed,
+was gone, who had become a grievous thorn in my side of late; and my
+great companion and counsellor, who tyrannized over every spontaneous
+movement of my heart, had likewise taken himself off. This last was an
+unspeakable relief; for I found that for a long season I had only been
+able to act by the motions of his mysterious mind and spirit. I
+therefore thanked God for my deliverance, and strode through my woods
+with a daring and heroic step; with independence in my eye, and freedom
+swinging in my right hand.
+
+At the extremity of the Colwan wood, I perceived a figure approaching
+me with slow and dignified motion. The moment that I beheld it, my
+whole frame received a shock as if the ground on which I walked had
+sunk suddenly below me. Yet, at that moment, I knew not who it was; it
+was the air and motion of someone that I dreaded, and from whom I would
+gladly have escaped; but this I even had not power to attempt. It came
+slowly onward, and I advanced as slowly to meet it; yet, when we came
+within speech, I still knew not who it was. It bore the figure, air,
+and features of my late brother, I thought, exactly; yet in all these
+there were traits so forbidding, so mixed with an appearance of misery,
+chagrin and despair, that I still shrunk from the view, not knowing in
+whose face I looked. But, when the being spoke, both my mental and
+bodily frame received another shock more terrible than the first, for
+it was the voice of the great personage I had so long denominated my
+friend, of whom I had deemed myself for ever freed, and whose presence
+and counsels I now dreaded more than Hell. It was his voice, but so
+altered--I shall never forget it till my dying day. Nay, I can scarce
+conceive it possible that any earthly sounds could be so discordant, so
+repulsive to every feeling of a human soul, as the tones of the voice
+that grated on my ear at that moment. They were the sounds of the pit,
+wheezed through a grated cranny, or seemed so to my distempered
+imagination.
+
+"So! Thou shudderest at my approach now, dost thou?" said he. "Is this
+all the gratitude that you deign for an attachment of which the annals
+of the world furnish no parallel? An attachment which has caused me to
+forego power and dominion, might, homage, conquest and adulation: all
+that I might gain one highly valued and sanctified spirit to my great
+and true, principles of reformation among mankind. Wherein have I
+offended? What have I done for evil, or what have I not done for your
+good; that you would thus shun my presence?"
+
+"Great and magnificent prince," said I humbly; "let me request of you
+to abandon a poor worthless wight to his own wayward fortune, and
+return to the dominion of your people. I am unworthy of the sacrifices
+you have made for my sake; and, after all your efforts, I do not feel
+that you have rendered either more virtuous or more happy. For the sake
+of that which is estimable in human nature, depart from me to your own
+home, before you render me a being either altogether above or below the
+rest of my fellow creatures. Let me plod on towards Heaven and
+happiness in my own way, like those that have gone before me, and I
+promise to stick fast by the great principles which you have so
+strenuously inculcated, on condition that you depart and leave me for
+ever."
+
+"Sooner shall you make the mother abandon the child of her bosom; nay,
+sooner cause the shadow to relinquish the substance, than separate me
+from your side. Our beings are amalgamated, as it were, and consociated
+in one, and never shall I depart from this country until I can carry
+you in triumph with me."
+
+I can in nowise describe the effect this appalling speech had on me. It
+was like the announcement of death to one who had of late deemed
+himself free, if not of something worse than death, and of longer
+continuance. There was I doomed to remain in misery, subjugated, soul
+and body, to one whose presence was become more intolerable to me than
+aught on earth could compensate. And at that moment, when he beheld the
+anguish of my soul, he could not conceal that he enjoyed it. I was
+troubled for an answer, for which he was waiting: it became incumbent
+on me to say something after such a protestation of attachment; and, in
+some degree to shake the validity of it, I asked, with great
+simplicity, where he had been all this while?
+
+"Your crimes and your extravagances forced me from your side for a
+season," said he, "but now that I hope the day of grace is returned, I
+am again drawn towards you by an affection that has neither bounds nor
+interest; an affection for which I receive not even the poor return of
+gratitude, and which seems to have its radical sources in fascination.
+I have been far, far abroad, and have seen much, and transacted much,
+since I last spoke with you. During that space, I grievously suspect
+that you have been guilty of great crimes and misdemeanours, crimes
+that would have sunk an unregenerated person to perdition; but as I
+knew it to be only a temporary falling off, a specimen of that liberty
+by which the chosen and elected ones are made free, I closed my eyes on
+the wilful debasement of our principles, knowing that the
+transgressions could never be accounted to your charge, and that in
+good time you would come to your senses, and throw the whole weight of
+your crimes on the shoulders that had voluntarily stooped to receive
+the load."
+
+"Certainly I will," said I, "as I and all the justified have a good
+right to do. But what crimes? What misdemeanours and transgressions do
+you talk about? For my part, I am conscious of none, and am utterly
+amazed at insinuations which I do not comprehend."
+
+"You have certainly been left to yourself for a season," returned he,
+"having gone on rather like a person in a delirium than a Christian in
+his sober sense. You are accused of having made away with your mother
+privately; as also of the death of a beautiful young lady, whose
+affections you had seduced."
+
+"It is an intolerable and monstrous falsehood!" cried I, interrupting,
+him. "I never laid a hand on a woman to take away her life, and have
+even shunned their society from my childhood. I know nothing of my
+mother's exit; nor of that young lady's whom you mention. Nothing
+whatever."
+
+"I hope it is so," said he. "But it seems there are some strong
+presumptuous proofs against you, and I came to warn you this day that a
+precognition is in progress, and that unless you are perfectly
+convinced, not only of your innocence but of your ability to prove it,
+it will be the safest course for you to abscond, and let the trial go
+on without you."
+
+"Never shall it be said that I shrunk from such a trial as this," said
+I. "It would give grounds for suspicions of guilt that never had
+existence, even in thought. I will go and show myself in every public
+place, that no slanderous tongue may wag against me. I have shed the
+blood of sinners, but of these deaths I am guiltless; therefore I will
+face every tribunal, and put all my accusers down."
+
+"Asseveration will avail you but little," answered he, composedly. "It
+is, however, justifiable in its place, although to me it signifies
+nothing, who know too well that you did commit both crimes, in your own
+person, and with your own hands. Far be it from me to betray you;
+indeed, I would rather endeavour to palliate the offences; for, though
+adverse to nature, I can prove them not to be so to the cause of pure
+Christianity, by the mode of which we have approved of it, and which we
+wish to promulgate."
+
+"If this that you tell me be true," said I, "then is it as true that I
+have two souls, which take possession of my bodily frame by turns, the
+one being all unconscious of what the other performs; for as sure as I
+have at this moment a spirit within me, fashioned and destined to
+eternal felicity, as sure am I utterly ignorant of the crimes you now
+lay to my charge."
+
+"Your supposition may be true in effect," said he. "We are all
+subjected to two distinct natures in the same person. I myself have
+suffered grievously in that way. The spirit that now directs my
+energies is not that with which I was endowed at my creation. It is
+changed within me, and so is my whole nature. My former days were those
+of grandeur and felicity. But, would you believe it? I was not then a
+Christian. Now I am. I have been converted to its truths by passing
+through the fire, and, since my final conversion, my misery has been
+extreme. You complain that I have not been able to render you more
+happy than you were. Alas! do you expect it in the difficult and
+exterminating career which you have begun? I, however, promise you
+this--a portion of the only happiness which I enjoy, sublime in its
+motions, and splendid in its attainments--I will place you on the right
+hand of my throne, and show you the grandeur of my domains, and the
+felicity of my millions of true professors."
+
+I was once more humbled before this mighty potentate, and promised to
+be ruled wholly by his directions, although at that moment my nature
+shrunk from the concessions, and my soul longed rather to be inclosed
+in the deeps of the sea, or involved once more in utter oblivion. I was
+like Daniel in the den of lions, without his faith in Divine support,
+and wholly at their mercy. I felt as one round whose body a deadly
+snake is twisted, which continues to hold him in its fangs, without
+injuring him, further than in moving its scaly infernal folds with
+exulting delight, to let its victim feel to whose power he has
+subjected himself; and thus did I for a space drag an existence from
+day to day, in utter weariness and helplessness; at one time
+worshipping with great fervour of spirit, and at other times so wholly
+left to myself as to work all manner of vices and follies with
+greediness. In these my enlightened friend never accompanied me, but I
+always observed that he was the first to lead me to every one of them,
+and then leave me in the lurch. The next day, after these my fallings
+off, he never failed to reprove me gently, blaming me for my venial
+transgressions; but then he had the art of reconciling all, by
+reverting to my justified and infallible state, which I found to prove
+a delightful healing salve for every sore.
+
+But, of all my troubles, this was the chief. I was every day and every
+hour assailed with accusations of deeds of which I was wholly ignorant;
+of acts of cruelty, injustice, defamation, and deceit; of pieces of
+business which I could not be made to comprehend; with lawsuits,
+details, arrestments of judgment, and a thousand interminable quibbles
+from the mouth of my loquacious and conceited attorney. So miserable
+was my life rendered by these continued attacks that I was often
+obliged to lock myself up for days together, never seeing any person
+save my man Samuel Scrape, who was a very honest blunt fellow, a
+staunch Cameronian, but withal very little conversant in religious
+matters. He said he came from a place called Penpunt, which I thought a
+name so ludicrous that I called him by the name of his native village,
+an appellation of which he was very proud, and answered everything with
+more civility and perspicuity when I denominated him Penpunt, than
+Samuel, his own Christian name. Of this peasant was I obliged to make a
+companion on sundry occasions, and strange indeed were the details
+which he gave me concerning myself, and the ideas of the country people
+concerning me. I took down a few of these in writing, to put off the
+time, and here leave them on record to show how the best and greatest
+actions are misconstrued among sinful and ignorant men:
+
+"You say, Samuel, that I hired you myself--that I have been a good
+enough master to you, and have paid you your weekly wages punctually.
+Now, how is it that you say this, knowing, as you do, that I never
+hired you, and never paid you a sixpence of wages in the whole course
+of my life, excepting this last month?"
+
+"Ye may as weel say, master, that water's no water, or that, stanes are
+no stanes. But that's just your gate, an' it's a great pity, aye to do
+a thing an profess the clean contrair. Weel then, since you havena paid
+me ony wages, an' I can prove day and date when I was hired, an' came
+hame to your service, will you be sae kind as to pay me now? That's the
+best way o' curing a man o' the mortal disease o' leasing-making that I
+ken o'."
+
+"I should think that Penpunt and Cameronian principles would not admit
+of a man taking twice payment for the same article."
+
+"In sic a case as this, sir, it disna hinge upon principles, but a
+piece o' good manners; an' I can tell you that, at sic a crisis, a
+Cameronian is a gay-an weel-bred man. He's driven to this, and he maun
+either make a breach in his friend's good name, or in his purse; an'
+oh, sir, whilk o' thae, think you, is the most precious? For instance,
+an a Galloway drover had comed to the town o' Penpunt, an' said to a
+Cameronian (the folk's a' Cameronians there), 'Sir, I want to buy your
+cow,' 'Vera weel,' says the Cameronian, 'I just want to sell the cow,
+sae gie me twanty punds Scots, an' take her w' ye.' It's a bargain. The
+drover takes away the cow, an' gies the Cameronian his twanty pund
+Scots. But after that, he meets him again on the white sands, amang a'
+the drovers an' dealers o' the land, an' the Gallowayman, he says to
+the Cameronian, afore a' thae witnesses, 'Come, Master Whiggam, I hae
+never paid you for yon bit useless cow that I bought. I'll pay her the
+day, but you maun mind the luck-penny; there's muckle need for 't'--or
+something to that purpose. The Cameronian then turns out to be a civil
+man, an' canna bide to make the man baith a feele an' liar at the same
+time, afore a' his associates; an' therefore he pits his principles aff
+at the side, to be  kind o' sleepin' partner, as it war, an' brings up
+his good breeding to stand at the counter: he pockets the money, gies
+the Galloway drover time o' day, an' comes his way. An' wha's to blame?
+Man mind yoursel is the first commandment. A Cameronian's principles
+never came atween him an' his purse, nor sanna in the present case;
+for, as I canna bide to make you out a leear, I'll thank you for my
+wages."
+
+"Well, you shall have them, Samuel, if you declare to me that I hired
+you myself in this same person, and bargained with you with this same
+tongue and voice with which I speak to you just now."
+
+"That I do declare, unless ye hae twa persons o' the same appearance,
+and twa tongues to the same voice. But, 'od saif us, sir, do you ken
+what the auld wives o' the clachan say about you?"
+
+"How should I, when no one repeats it to me?"
+
+"Oo, I trow  it's a' stuff--folk shouldna heed what's said by auld
+crazy kimmers. But there are some o' them weel kend for witches, too;
+an' they say, 'Lord have a care o' us!' They say the deil's often seen
+gaun sidie for sidie w' ye, whiles in ae shape, an' whiles in another.
+An' they say that he whiles takes your ain shape, or else enters into
+you, and then you turn a deil yoursel."
+
+I was so astounded at this terrible idea that had gone abroad,
+regarding my fellowship with the Prince of Darkness, that I could make
+no answer to the fellow's information, but sat like one in a stupor;
+and if it had not been for my well-founded faith, and conviction that I
+was a chosen and elected one before the world was made, I should at
+that moment have given in to the popular belief, and fallen into the
+sin of despondency; but I was preserved from such a fatal error by an
+inward and unseen supporter. Still the insinuation was so like what I
+felt myself that I was greatly awed and confounded.
+
+The poor fellow observed this, and tried to do away the impression by
+some further sage remarks of his own.
+
+"Hout, dear sir, it is balderdash, there's nae doubt o't. It is the
+crownhead o' absurdity to tak in the havers o' auld wives for gospel. I
+told them that my master was a peeous man, an' a sensible man; an', for
+praying, that he could ding auld Macmillan himsel. 'Sae could the
+deil,' they said, 'when he liket, either at preaching or praying, if
+these war to answer his ain ends.' 'Na, na,' says I, 'but he's a strick
+believer in a' the truths o' Christianity, my master.' They said, sae
+was Satan, for that he was the firmest believer in a' the truths of
+Christianity that was out o' Heaven; an' that, sin' the Revolution that
+the Gospel had turned sae rife, he had been often driven to the shift
+o' preaching it himsel, for the purpose o' getting some wrang tenets
+introduced into it, and thereby turning it into blasphemy and ridicule."
+
+I confess, to my shame, that I was so overcome by this jumble of
+nonsense that a chillness came over me, and, in spite of all my efforts
+to shake off the impression it had made, I fell into a faint. Samuel
+soon brought me to myself, and, after a deep draught of wine and water,
+I was greatly revived, and felt my spirit rise above the sphere of
+vulgar conceptions and the restrained views of unregenerate men. The
+shrewd but loquacious fellow, perceiving this, tried to make some
+amends for the pain he had occasioned to me by the following story,
+which I noted down, and which was brought on by a conversation to the
+following purport:
+
+"Now, Penpunt, you may tell me all that passed between you and the
+wives of the clachan. I am better of that stomach qualm, with which I
+am sometimes seized, and shall be much amused by hearing the sentiments
+of noted witches regarding myself and my connections."
+
+"Weel, you see, sir, I says to them, 'It will be lang afore the deil
+intermeddle wi' as serious a professor, and as fervent a prayer as my
+master, for, gin he gets the upper hand o' sickan men, wha's to be
+safe?' An', what think ye they said, sir? There was ane Lucky Shaw set
+up her lang lantern chafts, an' answered me, an' a' the rest shanned
+and noddit in assent an' approbation: 'Ye silly, sauchless, Cameronian
+cuif!' quo she, 'is that a' that ye ken about the wiles and doings o'
+the Prince o' the Air, that rules an' works in the bairns of
+disobedience? Gin ever he observes a proud professor, wha has mae than
+ordinary pretensions to a divine calling, and that reards and prays
+till the very howlets learn his preambles, that's the man Auld Simmie
+fixes on to mak a dishclout o'. He canna get rest in Hell, if he sees a
+man, or a set of men o' this stamp, an, when he sets fairly to work, it
+is seldom that he disna bring them round till his ain measures by hook
+or by crook. Then, Oh! it is a grand prize for him, an' a proud Deil he
+is, when he gangs hame to his ain ha', wi' a batch o' the souls o' sic
+strenuous professors on his back. Aye, I trow, auld Ingleby, the
+Liverpool packman, never came up Glasco street wi' prouder pomp when he
+had ten horse-laids afore him o' Flanders lace, an' Hollin lawn, an'
+silks an' satins frae the eastern Indians, than Satan wad strodge into
+Hell with a packlaid o' the souls o' proud professors on his braid
+shoulders. Ha, ha, ha! I think I see how the auld thief wad be gaun
+through his gizened dominions, crying his wares, in derision, "Wha will
+buy a fresh, cauler divine, a bouzy bishop, a fasting zealot, or a
+piping priest?" For a' their prayers an' their praises, their aumuses,
+an' their penances, their whinings, their howlings, their rantings, an'
+their ravings, here they come at last! Behold  the end! Here go the
+rare and precious wares! A fat professor for a bodle, an' a lean ane
+for half a merk!' I declare I trembled at the auld hag's ravings, but
+the lave o' the kimmers applauded the sayings as sacred truths. An'
+then Lucky went on: 'There are many wolves in sheep's claithing, among
+us, my man; mony deils aneath the masks o' zealous professors, roaming
+about in kirks and meetinghouses o' the land. It was but the year afore
+the last that the people o' the town o' Auchtermuchty grew so rigidly
+righteous that the meanest hind among them became a shining light in
+ither towns an' parishes. There was naught to be heard, neither night
+nor day, but preaching, praying, argumentation, an' catechising in a'
+the famous town o' Auchtermuchty. The young men wooed their sweethearts
+out o' the Song o' Solomon, an' the girls returned answers in strings
+o' verses out o' the Psalms. At the lint-swinglings, they said
+questions round; and read chapters, and sang hymns at bridals; auld and
+young prayed in their dreams, an' prophesied in their sleep, till the
+deils in the farrest nooks o' Hell were alarmed, and moved to
+commotion. Gin it hadna been an auld carl, Robin Ruthven, Auchtermuchty
+wad at that time hae been ruined and lost for ever. But Robin was a
+cunning man, an' had rather mae wits than his ain, for he had been in
+the hands o' the fairies when he was young, an' a' kinds o' spirits
+were visible to his een, an' their language as familiar to him as his
+ain mother tongue. Robin was sitting on the side o' the West Lowmond,
+ae still gloomy night in September, when he saw a bridal o' corbie
+craws coming east the lift, just on the edge o' the gloaming. The
+moment that Robin saw them, he kenned, by their movements, that they
+were craws o' some ither warld than this; so he signed himself, and
+crap into the middle o' his bourock. The corbie craws came a' an' sat
+down round about him, an' they poukit their black sooty wings, an'
+spread them out to the breeze to cool; and Robin heard ae corbie
+speaking, an' another answering him; and the tane said to the tither:
+"Where will the ravens find a prey the night?" "On the lean crazy souls
+o' Auchtermuchty," quo the tither. "I fear they will be o'er weel
+wrappit up in the warm flannens o' faith, an clouted wi' the dirty duds
+o' repentance, for us to mak a meal o'," quo the first. "Whaten vile
+sounds are these that I hear coming bumming up the hill?" "Oh, these
+are the hymns and praises o' the auld wives and creeshy louns o'
+Auchtermuchty, wha are gaun crooning their way to Heaven; an', gin it
+warna for the shame o' being beat, we might let our great enemy tak
+them. For sic a prize as he will hae! Heaven, forsooth! What shall we
+think o' Heaven, if it is to be filled wi' vermin like thae, amang whom
+there is mair poverty and pollution than I can name." "No matter for
+that," said the first, "we cannot have our power set at defiance;
+though we should put them on the thief's hole, we must catch them, and
+catch them with their own bait, too. Come all to church to-morrow, and
+I'll let you hear how I'll gull the saints of Auchtermuchty. In the
+meantime, there is a feast on the Sidlaw hills tonight, below the hill
+of Macbeth--Mount, Diabolus, and fly." Then, with loud croaking and
+crowing, the bridal of corbies again scaled the dusky air, and left
+Robin Ruthven in the middle of his cairn.
+
+"'The next day the congregation met in the kirk of Auchtermuchty, but
+the minister made not his appearance. The elder ran out and in making
+inquiries; but they could learn nothing, save that the minister was
+missing. They ordered the clerk to sing a part of the 119th Psalm,
+until they saw if the minister would cast up. The clerk did as he was
+ordered, and, by the time he reached the 77th verse, a strange divine
+entered the church, by the western door, and advanced solemnly up to
+the pulpit. The eyes of all the congregation were riveted on the
+sublime stranger, who was clothed in a robe of black sackcloth, that
+flowed all around him, and trailed far behind, and they weened him an
+angel, come to exhort them, in disguise. He read out his text from the
+Prophecies of Ezekiel, which consisted of these singular words: "I will
+overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until he
+come, whose right it is, and I will give it him."
+
+"'From these words he preached such a sermon as never was heard by
+human ears, at least never by ears of Auchtermuchty. It was a true,
+sterling, gospel sermon--it was striking, sublime, and awful in the
+extreme. He finally made out the IT, mentioned in the text, to mean,
+properly and positively, the notable town of Auchtermuchty. He proved
+all the people in it, to their perfect satisfaction, to be in the gall
+of bitterness and bond of iniquity, and he assured them that God would
+overturn them, their principles, and professions; and that they should
+be no more, until the Devil, the town's greatest enemy, came, and then
+it should be given unto him for a prey, for it was his right, and to
+him it belonged, if there was not forthwith a radical change made in
+all their opinions and modes of worship.
+
+"'The inhabitants of Auchtermuchty were electrified--they were charmed;
+they were actually raving mad about the grand and sublime truths
+delivered to them by this eloquent and impressive preacher of
+Christianity. "He is a prophet of the Lord," said one, "sent to warn
+us, as Jonah was sent to the Ninevites." "Oh, he is an angel sent from
+Heaven, to instruct this great city," said another, "for no man ever
+uttered truths so sublime before." The good people of Auchtermuchty
+were in perfect raptures with the preacher, who had thus sent them to
+Hell by the slump, tag-rag, and bobtail! Nothing in the world delights
+a truly religious people so much as consigning them to eternal
+damnation. They wandered after the preacher--they crowded together, and
+spoke of his sermon with admiration, and still, as they conversed, the
+wonder and the admiration increased; so that honest Robin Ruthven's
+words would not be listened to. It was in vain that he told them he
+heard a raven speaking, and another raven answering him: the people
+laughed him to scorn, and kicked him out of their assemblies, as a one
+who spoke evil of dignities; and they called him a warlock, an' a daft
+body, to think to mak language out o' the crouping o' craws.
+
+"'The sublime preacher could not be heard of, although all the country
+was sought for him, even to the minutest corner of St. Johnston and
+Dundee; but as he had announced another sermon on the same text, on a
+certain day, all the inhabitants of that populous country, far and
+near, flocked to Auchtermuchty. Cupar, Newburgh, and Strathmiglo,
+turned out men, women and children. Perth and Dundee gave their
+thousands; and, from the East Nook of Fife to the foot of the Grampian
+hills, there was nothing but running and riding that morning to
+Auchtermuchty. The kirk would not hold the thousandth part of them. A
+splendid tent was erected on the brae north of the town, and round that
+the countless congregation assembled. When they were all waiting
+anxiously for the great preacher, behold, Robin Ruthven set up his head
+in the tent, and warned his countrymen to beware of the doctrines they
+were about to hear, for he could prove, to their satisfaction, that
+they were all false, and tended to their destruction!
+
+"'The whole multitude raised a cry of indignation against Robin, and
+dragged him from the tent, the elders rebuking him, and the multitude
+threatening to resort to stronger measures; and, though he told them a
+plain and unsophisticated tale of the black corbies, he was only
+derided. The great preacher appeared once more, and went through his
+two discourses with increased energy and approbation. All who heard him
+were amazed, and many of them went into fits, writhing and foaming in a
+state of the most horrid agitation. Robin Ruthven sat on the outskirts
+of the great assembly, listening with the rest, and perceived what
+they, in the height of their enthusiasm, perceived not the ruinous
+tendency of the tenets so sublimely inculcated. Robin kenned the voice
+of his friend the corby-craw again, and was sure he could not be wrong:
+sae, when public worship was finished, a' the elders an' a' the gentry
+flocked about the great preacher, as he stood on the green brae in the
+sight of the hale congregation, an' a' war alike anxious to pay him
+some mark o' respect. Robin Ruthven came in amang the thrang, to try to
+effect what he had promised; and, with the greatest readiness and
+simplicity, just took baud o' the side o' the wide gown, and, in sight
+of a' present, held it aside as high as the preacher's knee, and,
+behold, there was a pair o' cloven feet! The auld thief was fairly
+catched in the very height o' his proud conquest, an' put down by an
+auld carl. He could feign nae mair, but, gnashing on Robin wi' his
+teeth, he dartit into the air like a fiery dragon, an' keust a reid
+rainbow o'er the taps o' the Lowmonds.
+
+"'A' the auld wives an weavers o' Auchtermuchty fell down flat wi'
+affright, an' betook them to their prayers aince again, for they saw
+the dreadfu' danger they had escapit, an' frae that day to this it is a
+hard matter to gar an Auchtermuchty man listen to a sermon at a', an' a
+harder ane still to gar him applaud ane, for he thinks aye that he sees
+the cloven foot peeping out frae aneath ilka sentence.
+
+"'Now, this is a true story, my man,' quo the auld wife, 'an', whenever
+you are doubtfu' of a man, take auld Robin Ruthven's plan, an' look for
+the cloven foot, for it's a thing that winna weel hide; an' it appears
+whiles where ane wadna think o't. It will keek out frae aneath the
+parson's gown, the lawyer's wig, and the Cameronian's blue bannet; but
+still there is a gouden rule whereby to detect it, an' that never,
+never fails.' The auld witch didna gie me the rule, an' though I hae
+heard tell o't often an' often, shame fa' me an I ken what it is! But
+ye will ken it well, an' it wad be nae the waur of a trial on some o'
+your friends, maybe; for they say there's a certain gentleman seen
+walking wi' you whiles, that, wherever he sets his foot, the grass
+withers as gin it war scoudered wi' a het ern. His presence be about
+us! What's the matter wi' you, master. Are ye gaun to take the calm o'
+the stamock again?"
+
+The truth is, that the clown's absurd story, with the still more
+ridiculous application, made me sick at heart a second time. It was not
+because I thought my illustrious friend was the Devil, or that I took a
+fool's idle tale as a counterbalance to Divine revelation that had
+assured me of my justification in the sight of God before the existence
+of time. But, in short, it gave me a view of my own state, at which I
+shuddered, as indeed I now always did when the image of my devoted
+friend and ruler presented itself to my mind. I often communed, with my
+heart on this, and wondered how a connection, that had the well-being
+of mankind solely in view, could be productive of fruits so bitter. I
+then went to try my works by the Saviour's golden rule, as my servant
+had put it into my head to do; and, behold, not one of them could stand
+the test. I had shed blood on a ground on which I could not admit that
+any man had a right to shed mine; and I began to doubt the motives of
+my adviser once more, not that they were intentionally bad, but that
+his was some great mind led astray by enthusiasm or some overpowering
+passion.
+
+He seemed to comprehend every one of these motions of my heart, for his
+manner towards me altered every day. It first became anything but
+agreeable, then supercilious, and, finally, intolerable; so that I
+resolved to shake him off, cost what it would, even though I should be
+reduced to beg my bread in a foreign land. To do it at home was
+impossible, as he held my life in his hands, to sell it whenever he had
+a mind; and, besides, his ascendancy over me was as complete as that of
+a huntsman over his dogs: I was even so weak as, the next time I met
+with him, to look steadfastly at his foot, to see if it was not cloven
+into two hoofs. It was the foot of a gentleman in every respect, so far
+as appearances went, but the form of his counsels was somewhat
+equivocal, and, if not double, they were amazingly crooked.
+
+But, if I had taken my measures to abscond and fly from my native
+place, in order to free myself of this tormenting, intolerant, and
+bloody reformer, he had likewise taken his to expel me, or throw me
+into the hands of justice. It seems that, about this time, I was
+haunted by some spies connected with my late father and brother, of
+whom the mistress of the former was one. My brother's death had been
+witnessed by two individuals; indeed, I always had an impression that
+it was witnessed by more than one, having some faint recollection of
+hearing voices and challenges close beside me; and this woman had
+searched about until she found these people; but, as I shrewdly
+suspected, not without the assistance of the only person in my
+secret--my own warm and devoted friend. I say this, because I found
+that he had them concealed in the neighbourhood, and then took me again
+and again where I was fully exposed to their view, without being aware.
+One time in particular, on pretence of gratifying my revenge on that
+base woman, he knew so well where she lay concealed that he led me to
+her, and left me to the mercy of two viragos who had very nigh taken my
+life. My time of residence at Dalcastle was wearing to a crisis. I
+could no longer live with my tyrant, who haunted me like my shadow;
+and, besides, it seems there were proofs of murder leading against me
+from all quarters. Of part of these I deemed myself quite free, but the
+world deemed otherwise; and how the matter would have gone God only
+knows, for, the case never having undergone a judicial trial, I do not.
+It perhaps, however, behoves me here to relate all that I know of it,
+and it is simply this:
+
+On the first of June, 1712 (well may I remember the day), I was sitting
+locked in my secret chamber, in a state of the utmost despondency,
+revolving in my mind what I ought to do to be free of my persecutors,
+and wishing myself a worm, or a moth, that I might be crushed and at
+rest, when behold Samuel entered, with eyes like to start out of his
+head, exclaiming: "For God's sake, master, fly and hide yourself, for
+your mother's found, an' as sure as you're a living soul, the blame is
+gaun to fa' on you!"
+
+"My mother found!" said I. "And, pray, where has she been all this
+while?" In the meantime, I was terribly discomposed at the thoughts of
+her return.
+
+"Been, sir! Been? Why, she has been where ye pat her, it seems--lying
+buried in the sands o' the linn. I can tell you, ye will see her a
+frightsome figure, sic as I never wish to see again. An' the young lady
+is found too, sir: an' it is said the Devil--I beg pardon, sir, your
+friend, I mean--it is said your friend has made the discovery, an' the
+folk are away to raise officers, an' they will be here in an hour or
+two at the farthest, sir; an' sae you hae not a minute to lose, for
+there's proof, sir, strong proof, an' sworn proof, that ye were last
+seen wi' them baith; sae, unless ye can gie a' the better an account o'
+baith yoursel an' them either hide or flee for your bare life."
+
+"I will neither hide nor fly," said I, "for I am as guiltless of the
+blood of these women as the child unborn."
+
+"The country disna think sae, master; an' I can assure you that, should
+evidence fail, you run a risk o' being torn limb frae limb. They are
+bringing the corpse here, to gar ye touch them baith afore witnesses,
+an' plenty o' witnesses there will be!"
+
+"They shall not bring them here," cried I, shocked beyond measure at
+the experiment about to be made. "Go, instantly and debar them from
+entering my gate with their bloated and mangled carcases!"
+
+"The body of your own mother, sir!" said the fellow emphatically. I was
+in terrible agitation; and, being driven to my wits' end, I got up and
+strode furiously round and round the room. Samuel wist not what to do,
+but I saw by his staring he deemed me doubly guilty. A tap came to the
+chamber door: we both started like guilty creatures; and as for Samuel,
+his hairs stood all on end with alarm, so that, when I motioned to him,
+he could scarcely advance to open the door. He did so at length, and
+who should enter but my illustrious friend, manifestly in the utmost
+state of alarm. The moment that Samuel admitted him, the former made
+his escape by the prince's side as he entered, seemingly in a state of
+distraction. I was little better, when I saw this dreaded personage
+enter my chamber, which he had never before attempted; and, being
+unable to ask his errand, I suppose I stood and gazed on him like a
+statue.
+
+"I come with sad and tormenting tidings to you, my beloved and
+ungrateful friend," said he, "but, having only a minute left to save
+your life, I have come to attempt it. There is a mob coming towards you
+with two dead bodies, which will place you in circumstances
+disagreeable enough: but that is not the worst, for of that you may be
+able to clear yourself. At this moment there is a party of officers,
+with a justiciary warrant from Edinburgh, surrounding the house, and
+about to begin the search of it for you. If you fall into their hands,
+you are inevitably lost; for I have been making earnest inquiries, and
+find that everything is in train for your ruin."
+
+"Aye, and who has been the cause of all this?" said I, with great
+bitterness. But he stopped me short, adding, "There is no time for such
+reflections at present; I gave my word of honour, that your life should
+be safe from the hand of man. So it shall, if the power remain with me
+to save it. I am come to redeem my pledge, and to save your life by the
+sacrifice of my own. Here--not one word of expostulation, change habits
+with me, and you may then pass by the officers, and guards, and even
+through the approaching mob, with the most perfect temerity. There is a
+virtue in this garb, and, instead of offering to detain you, they shall
+pay you obeisance. Make haste, and leave this place for the present,
+flying where you best may, and, if I escape from these dangers that
+surround me, I will endeavour to find you out, and bring you what
+intelligence I am able."
+
+I put on his green frock coat, buff belt, and a sort of a turban that
+he always wore on his head, somewhat resembling a bishop's mitre: he
+drew his hand thrice across my face, and I withdrew as he continued to
+urge me. My hall door and postern gate were both strongly guarded, and
+there were sundry armed people within, searching the closets; but all
+of them made way for me, and lifted their caps as I passed by them.
+Only one superior officer accosted me, asking if I had seen the
+culprit. I knew not what answer to make, but chanced to say, with great
+truth and propriety: "He is safe enough." The man beckoned with a
+smile, as much as to say: "Thank you, sir, that is quite sufficient,"
+and I walked deliberately away.
+
+I had not well left the gate till, hearing a great noise coming from
+the deep glen towards the east, I turned that way, deeming myself quite
+secure in this my new disguise, to see what it was, and if matters were
+as had been described to me. There I met a great mob, sure enough,
+coming with two dead bodies stretched on boards, and decently covered
+with white sheets. I would fain have examined their appearance, had I
+not perceived the apparent fury in the looks of the men, and judged
+from that how much more safe it was for me not to intermeddle in the
+affray. I cannot tell how it was, but I felt a strange and unwonted
+delight in viewing this scene, and a certain pride of heart in being
+supposed the perpetrator of the unnatural crimes laid to my charge.
+This was a feeling quite new to me; and if there were virtues in the
+robes of the illustrious foreigner, who had without all dispute
+preserved my life at this time: I say, if there was any inherent virtue
+in these robes of his, as he had suggested, this was one of their
+effects' that they turned my heart towards that which was evil,
+horrible, and disgustful.
+
+I mixed with the mob to hear what they were saying. Every tongue was
+engaged in loading me with the most opprobrious epithets! One called me
+a monster of nature; another an incarnate devil; and another a creature
+made to be cursed in time and eternity. I retired from them and, winded
+my way southwards, comforting myself with the assurance that so mankind
+had used and persecuted the greatest fathers and apostles of the
+Christian Church, and that their vile opprobrium could not alter the
+counsels of Heaven concerning me.
+
+On going over that rising ground called Dorington Moor, I could not
+help turning round and taking a look of Dalcastle. I had little doubt
+that it would be my last look, and nearly as little ambition that it
+should not. I thought how high my hopes of happiness and advancement
+had been on entering that mansion, and taking possession of its rich
+and extensive domains, and how miserably I had been disappointed. On
+the contrary, I had experienced nothing but chagrin, disgust, and
+terror; and I now consoled myself with the hope that I should
+henceforth shake myself free of the chains of my great tormentor, and
+for that privilege was I willing to encounter any earthly distress. I
+could not help perceiving that I was now on a path which was likely to
+lead me into a species of distress hitherto unknown, and hardly dreamed
+of by me, and that was total destitution. For all the riches I had been
+possessed of a few hours previous to this, I found that here I was
+turned out of my lordly possessions without a single merk, or the power
+of lifting and commanding the smallest sum, without being thereby
+discovered and seized. Had it been possible for me to have escaped in
+my own clothes, I had a considerable sum secreted in these, but, by the
+sudden change, I was left without a coin for present necessity. But I
+had hope in Heaven, knowing that the just man would not be left
+destitute and that, though many troubles surrounded him, he would at
+last be set free from them all. I was possessed of strong and brilliant
+parts, and a liberal education; and, though I had somehow unaccountably
+suffered my theological qualifications to fall into desuetude, since my
+acquaintance with the ablest and most rigid of all theologians, I had
+nevertheless hopes that, by preaching up redemption by grace,
+preordination, and eternal purpose, I should yet be enabled to benefit
+mankind in some country, and rise to high distinction.
+
+These were some of the thoughts by which I consoled myself as I posted
+on my way southwards, avoiding the towns and villages, and falling into
+the cross ways that led from each of the great roads passing east and
+west to another. I lodged the first night in the house of a country
+weaver, into which I stepped at a late hour, quite overcome with hunger
+and fatigue, having travelled not less than thirty miles from my late
+home. The man received me ungraciously, telling me of a gentleman's
+house at no great distance, and of an inn a little farther away; but I
+said I delighted more in the society of a man like him than that of any
+gentleman of the land, for my concerns were with the poor of this
+world, it being easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
+than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
+
+The weaver's wife, who sat with a child on her knee, and had not
+hitherto opened her mouth, hearing me speak in that serious and
+religious style, stirred up the fire with her one hand; then, drawing a
+chair near it, she said: "Come awa, honest lad, in by here; sin' it be
+sae that you belang to Him wha gies us a' that we hae, it is but right
+that you should share a part. You are a stranger, it is true, but them
+that winna entertain a stranger will never entertain an angel unawares."
+
+I never was apt to be taken with the simplicity of nature; in general I
+despised it; but, owing to my circumstances at the time, I was deeply
+affected by the manner of this poor woman's welcome. The weaver
+continued in a churlish mood throughout the evening, apparently
+dissatisfied with what his wife had done in entertaining me, and spoke
+to her in a manner so crusty that I thought proper to rebuke him, for
+the woman was comely in her person, and virtuous in her conversation;
+but the weaver, her husband, was large of make, ill-favoured, and
+pestilent; therefore did I take him severely to task for the tenor of
+his conduct; but the man was froward, and answered me rudely with
+sneering and derision and, in the height of his caprice, he said to his
+wife: "Whan focks are sae keen of a chance o' entertaining angels,
+gude-wife, it wad maybe be worth their while to tak tent what kind o'
+angels they are. It wadna wonder me vera muckle an ye had entertained
+your friend the Deil the night, for aw thought aw fand a saur o' reek
+an' brimstane about him. He's nane o' the best o' angels, an focks
+winna hae muckle credit by entertaining him."
+
+Certainly, in the assured state I was in, I had as little reason to be
+alarmed at mention being made of the Devil as any person on earth: of
+late, however, I felt that the reverse was the case, and that any
+allusion to my great enemy moved me exceedingly. The weaver's speech
+had such an effect on me that both he and his wife were alarmed at my
+looks. The latter thought I was angry, and chided her husband gently
+for his rudeness; but the weaver himself rather seemed to be confirmed
+in his opinion that I was the Devil, for he looked round like a
+startled roe-buck, and immediately betook him to the family Bible.
+
+I know not whether it was on purpose to prove my identity or not, but I
+think he was going to desire me either to read a certain portion of
+Scripture that he had sought out, or to make family worship, had not
+the conversation at that instant taken another turn; for the weaver,
+not knowing how to address me, abruptly asked my name, as he was about
+to put the Bible into my hands. Never having considered myself in the
+light of a male-factor, but rather as a champion in the cause of truth,
+and finding myself perfectly safe under my disguise, I had never once
+thought of the utility of changing my name, and, when the man asked me,
+I hesitated; but, being compelled to say something, I said my name was
+Cowan. The man stared at me, and then at his wife, with a look that
+spoke a knowledge of something alarming or mysterious.
+
+"Ha! Cowan?" said he. "That's most extraordinar! Not Colwan, I hope?"
+
+"No: Cowan is my sirname," said I. "But why not Colwan, there being so
+little difference in the sound?"
+
+"I was feared ye might be that waratch that the Deil has taen the
+possession o', an' eggit him on to kill baith his father an' his
+mother, his only brother, an' his sweetheart," said he; "an', to say
+the truth, I'm no that sure about you yet, for I see you're gaun wi'
+arms on ye."
+
+"Not I, honest man," said I. "I carry no arms; a man conscious of his
+innocence and uprightness of heart needs not to carry arms in his
+defence now."
+
+"Aye, aye, maister," said he; "an' pray what div ye ca' this bit
+windlestrae that's appearing here?" With that he pointed to something
+on the inside of the breast of my frock-coat. I looked at it, and there
+certainly was the gilded haft of a poniard, the same weapon I had seen
+and handled before, and which I knew my illustrious companion carried
+about with him; but till that moment I knew not that I was in
+possession of it. I drew it out: a more dangerous or insidious-looking
+weapon could not be conceived. The weaver and his wife were both
+frightened, the latter in particular; and she being my friend, and I
+dependent on their hospitality for that night, I said: "I declare I
+knew not that I carried this small rapier, which has been in my coat by
+chance, and not by any design of mine. But, lest you should think that
+I meditate any mischief to any under this roof I give it into your
+hands, requesting of you to lock it by till tomorrow, or when I shall
+next want it."
+
+The woman seemed rather glad to get hold of it; and taking it from me,
+she went into a kind of pantry out of my sight, and locked the weapon
+up; and then the discourse went on.
+
+"There cannot be such a thing in reality," said I, "as the story you
+were mentioning just now, of a man whose name resembles mine."
+
+"It's likely that you ken a wee better about the story than I do,
+maister," said he, "suppose you do leave the L out of your name. An'
+yet I think sic a waratch, an' a murderer, wad hae taen a name wi' some
+gritter difference in the sound. But the story is just that true that
+there were twa o' the Queen's officers here nae mair than an hour ago,
+in pursuit o' the vagabond, for they gat some intelligence that he had
+fled this gate; yet they said he had been last seen wi' black claes on,
+an' they supposed he was clad in black. His ain servant is wi' them,
+for the purpose o' kennin the scoundrel, an' they're galloping through
+the country like madmen. I hope in God they'll get him, an' rack his
+neck for him!"
+
+I could not say Amen to the weaver's prayer, and therefore tried to
+compose myself as well as I could, and made some religious comment on
+the causes of the nation's depravity. But suspecting that my potent
+friend had betrayed my flight and disguise, to save his life, I was
+very uneasy, and gave myself up for lost. I said prayers in the family,
+with the tenor of which the wife was delighted, but the weaver still
+dissatisfied; and, after a supper of the most homely fare, he tried to
+start an argument with me, proving that everything for which I had
+interceded in my prayer was irrelevant to man's present state. But I,
+being weary and distressed in mind, shunned the contest, and requested
+a couch whereon to repose.
+
+I was conducted into the other end of the house, among looms, treadles,
+pirns, and confusion without end; and there, in a sort of box, was I
+shut up for my night's repose, for the weaver, as he left me,
+cautiously turned the key of my apartment, and left me to shift for
+myself among the looms, determined that I should escape from the house
+with nothing. After he and his wife and children were crowded into
+their den, I heard the two mates contending furiously about me in
+suppressed voices, the one maintaining the probability that I was the
+murderer, and the other proving the impossibility of it. The husband,
+however, said as much as let me understand that he had locked me up on
+purpose to bring the military, or officers of justice, to seize me. I
+was in the utmost perplexity, yet for all that, and the imminent danger
+I was in, I fell asleep, and a more troubled and tormenting sleep never
+enchained a mortal frame. I had such dreams that they will not bear
+repetition, and early in the morning I awaked, feverish, and parched
+with thirst.
+
+I went to call mine host, that he might let me out to the open air,
+but, before doing so, I thought it necessary to put on some clothes. In
+attempting to do this, a circumstance arrested my attention (for which
+I could in nowise account, which to this day I cannot unriddle, nor
+shall I ever be able to comprehend it while I live): the frock and
+turban, which had furnished my disguise on the preceding day, were both
+removed, and my own black coat and cocked hat laid down in their place.
+At first I thought I was in a dream, and felt the weaver's beam, web,
+and treadle-strings with my hands, to convince myself that I was awake.
+I was certainly awake; and there was the door locked firm and fast as
+it was the evening before. I carried my own black coat to the small
+window and examined it. It was my own in verity; and the sums of money
+that I had concealed in case of any emergency, remained untouched. I
+trembled with astonishment; and on my return from the small window went
+doiting in amongst the weaver's looms, till I entangled myself, and
+could not get out again without working great deray amongst the coarse
+linen threads that stood in warp from one end of the apartment unto the
+other. I had no knife whereby to cut the cords of this wicked man, and
+therefore was obliged to call out lustily for assistance. The weaver
+came half naked, unlocked the door, and, setting in his head and long
+neck, accosted me thus:
+
+"What now, Mr. Satan? What for art ye roaring that gate? Are you fawn
+inna little hell, instead o' the big muckil ane? Deil be in your
+reistit trams! What for have ye abscondit yoursel into ma leddy's wab
+for?"
+
+"Friend, I beg your pardon," said I. "I wanted to be at the light, and
+have somehow unfortunately involved myself in the intricacies of your
+web, from which I cannot get dear without doing you a great injury.
+Pray do lend your experienced hand to extricate me."
+
+"May aw the pearls o' damnation light on your silly snout, an I dinna
+estricat ye weel enough! Ye ditit donnart, deil's burd that ye be! What
+made ye gang howkin in there to be a poor man's ruin? Come out, ye vile
+rag-of-a-muffin, or I gar ye come out wi' mair shame and disgrace, an'
+fewer haill banes in your body."
+
+My feet had slipped down through the double warpings of a web, and not
+being able to reach the ground with them (there being a small pit
+below) I rode upon a number of yielding threads, and, there being
+nothing else that I could reach, to extricate myself was impossible. I
+was utterly powerless; and, besides, the yarn and cords hurt me very
+much. For all that, the destructive weaver seized a loom-spoke, and
+began a-beating me most unmercifully, while, entangled as I was, I
+could do nothing but shout aloud for mercy, or assistance, whichever
+chanced to be within hearing. The latter at length made its appearance
+in the form of the weaver's wife, in the same state of dishabille with
+himself, who instantly interfered, and that most strenuously, on my
+behalf. Before her arrival, however, I had made a desperate effort to
+throw myself out of the entanglement I was in; for the weaver continued
+repeating his blows and cursing me so that I determined to get out of
+his meshes at any risk. The effect made my case worse; for, my feet
+being wrapt among the nether threads, as I threw myself from my saddle
+on the upper ones, my feet brought the others up through these, and I
+hung with my head down and my feet as firm as they had been in a vice.
+The predicament of the web being thereby increased, the weaver's wrath
+was doubled in proportion, and he laid on without mercy.
+
+At this critical juncture the wife arrived, and without hesitation
+rushed before her offended lord, withholding his hand from injuring me
+further, although then it was uplifted along with the loom-spoke in
+overbearing ire. "Dear Johnny! I think ye be gaen dementit this
+morning. Be quiet, my dear, an' dinna begin a Boddel Brigg business in
+your ain house. What for ir ye persecutin' a servant o' the Lord's that
+gate, an' pitting the life out o' him wi' his head down an' his heels
+up?"
+
+"Had ye said a servant o' the Deil's, Nans, ye wad hae been nearer the
+nail, for gin he binna the Auld Ane himsel, he's gayan sib till him.
+There, didna I lock him in on purpose to bring the military on him; an'
+in the place o' that, hasna he keepit me in a sleep a' this while as
+deep as death? An' here do I find him abscondit like a speeder i' the
+mids o' my leddy's wab, an' me dreamin' a' the night that I had the
+Deil i' my house, an' that he was clapper-clawin me ayont the loom.
+Have at you, ye brunstane thief!" and, in spite of the good woman's
+struggles, he lent me another severe blow.
+
+"Now, Johnny Dods, my man! oh, Johnny Dods, think if that be like a
+Christian, and ane o' the heroes o' Boddel Brigg, to entertain a
+stranger, an' then bind him in a web wi' his head down, an' mell him to
+death! oh, Johnny Dods, think what you are about! Slack a pin, an' let
+the good honest religious lad out."
+
+The weaver was rather overcome, but still stood to his point that I was
+the Deil, though in better temper; and, as he slackened the web to
+release me, he remarked, half laughing: "Wha wad hae thought that John
+Dods should hae escapit a' the snares an' dangers that circumfauldit
+him, an' at last should hae weaved a net to catch the Deil."
+
+The wife released me soon, and carefully whispered me, at the same
+time, that it would be as well for me to dress and be going. I was not
+long in obeying, and dressed myself in my black clothes, hardly knowing
+what I did, what to think, or whither to betake myself. I was sore hurt
+by the blows of the desperate ruffian; and, what was worse, my ankle
+was so much strained that I could hardly set my foot to the ground. I
+was obliged to apply to the weaver once more, to see if I could learn
+anything about my clothes, or how the change was effected. "Sir," said
+I, "how comes it that you have robbed me of my clothes, and put these
+down in their place over night?"
+
+"Ha! thae claes? Me pit down the claes!" said he, gaping with
+astonishment, and touching the clothes with the point of his
+forefinger. "I never saw them afore, as I have death to meet wi', so
+help me God!"
+
+He strode into the work-house where I slept, to satisfy himself that my
+clothes were not there, and returned perfectly aghast with
+consternation. "The doors were baith fast lockit," said he. "I could
+hae defied a rat either to hae gotten out or in. My dream has been
+true! My dream has been true! The Lord judge between thee and me; but
+in His name, I charge you to depart out o' this house; an', gin it be
+your will, dinna tak the braidside o't w'ye, but gang quietly out at
+the door wi' your face foremost. Wife, let naught o' this enchanter's
+remain i' the house, to be a curse, an' a snare to us; gang an' bring
+him his gildit weapon, an' may the Lord protect a' his ain against its
+hellish an' deadly point!"
+
+The wife went to seek my poniard, trembling so excessively that she
+could hardly walk, and, shortly after, we heard a feeble scream from
+the pantry. The weapon had disappeared with the clothes, though under
+double lock and key; and, the terror of the good people having now
+reached a disgusting extremity, I thought proper to make a sudden
+retreat, followed by the weaver's anathemas.
+
+My state both of body and mind was now truly deplorable. I was hungry,
+wounded, and lame, an outcast and a vagabond in society; my life sought
+after with avidity, and all for doing that to which I was predestined
+by Him who fore-ordains whatever comes to pass. I knew not whither to
+betake me. I had purposed going into England and there making some use
+of the classical education I had received, but my lameness rendered
+this impracticable for the present. I was therefore obliged to turn my
+face towards Edinburgh, where I was little known--where concealment was
+more practicable than by skulking in the country, and where I might
+turn my mind to something that was great and good. I had a little
+money, both Scotch and English, now in my possession, but not one
+friend in the whole world on whom I could rely. One devoted friend, it
+is true, I had, but he was become my greatest terror. To escape from
+him, I now felt that I would willingly travel to the farthest corners
+of the world, and be subjected to every deprivation; but after the
+certainty of what had taken place last night, after I had travelled
+thirty miles by secret and by-ways, I saw not how escape from him was
+possible.
+
+Miserable, forlorn, and dreading every person that I saw, either behind
+or before me, I hasted on towards Edinburgh, taking all the by and
+unfrequented paths; and, the third night after I left the weaver's
+house, I reached the West Port, without meeting with anything
+remarkable. Being exceedingly fatigued and lame, I took lodgings in the
+first house I entered, and for these I was to pay two groats a week,
+and to board and sleep with a young man who wanted a companion to make
+his rent easier. I liked this; having found from experience that the
+great personage who had attached himself to me, and was now become my
+greatest terror among many surrounding evils, generally haunted me when
+I was alone keeping aloof from all other society.
+
+My fellow lodger came home in the evening, and was glad at my coming.
+His name was Linton, and I changed mine to Elliot. He was a flippant
+unstable being, one on whom nothing appeared a difficulty, in his own
+estimation, but who could effect very little after all. He was what is
+called by some a compositor, in the Queen's printing house, then
+conducted by a Mr. James Watson. In the course of our conversation that
+night, I told him I was a first-rate classical scholar, and would
+gladly turn my attention to some business wherein my education might
+avail me something; and that there was nothing would delight me so much
+as an engagement in the Queen's printing office. Linton made no
+difficulty in bringing about that arrangement. His answer was: "Oo, gud
+sir, you are the very man we want. Gud bless your breast and your
+buttons, sir! Aye, that's neither here nor there. That's all very well.
+Ha, ha, ha. A by-word in the house, sir. But, as I was saying, you are
+the very man we want. You will get any money you like to ask, sir. Any
+money you like, sir. God bless your buttons!--That's settled--All
+done--Settled, setded--I'll do it, I'll do it--No more about it; no
+more about it. Settled, settled."
+
+The next day I went with him to the office, and he presented me to Mr.
+Watson as the most wonderful genius and scholar ever known. His
+recommendation had little sway with Mr. Watson, who only smiled at
+Linton's extravagances, as one does at the prattle of an infant. I
+sauntered about the printing office for the space of two or three
+hours, during which time Watson bustled about with green spectacles on
+his nose, and took no heed of me. But, seeing that I still lingered, he
+addressed me at length, in a civil gentlemanly way, and inquired
+concerning my views. I satisfied him with all my answers, in particular
+those to his questions about the Latin and Greek languages; but when he
+came to ask testimonials of my character and acquirements, and found
+that I could produce none, he viewed me with a jealous eye, and said he
+dreaded I was some n'er-do-weel, run from my parents or guardians, and
+he did not choose to employ any such. I said my parents were both dead;
+and that, being thereby deprived of the means of following out my
+education, it behoved me to apply to some business in which my
+education might be of some use to me. He said he would take me into the
+office, and pay me according to the business I performed and the manner
+in which I deported myself; but he could take no man into Her Majesty's
+printing office upon a regular engagement who could not produce the
+most respectable references with regard to morals.
+
+I could not but despise the man in my heart who laid such a stress upon
+morals, leaving grace out of the question; and viewed it as a
+deplorable instance of human depravity and self-conceit; but, for all
+that, I was obliged to accept of his terms, for I had an inward thirst
+and longing to distinguish myself in the great cause of religion, and I
+thought, if once I could print my own works, how I would astonish
+mankind, and confound their self-wisdom and their esteemed
+morality--blow up the idea of any dependence on good works, and
+morality, forsooth! And I weened that I might thus get me a name even
+higher than if I had been made a general of the Czar Peter's troops
+against the infidels.
+
+I attended the office some hours every day, but got not much
+encouragement, though I was eager to learn everything, and could soon
+have set types considerably well. It was here that I first conceived
+the idea of writing this journal, and having it printed, and applied to
+Mr. Watson to print it for me, telling him it was a religious parable
+such as the Pilgrim's Progress. He advised me to print it close, and
+make it a pamphlet, and then, if it did not sell, it would not cost me
+much; but that religious pamphlets, especially if they had a shade of
+allegory in them, were the very rage of the day. I put my work to the
+press, and wrote early and late; and encouraging my companion to work
+at odd hours and on Sundays, before the press-work of the second sheet
+was begun, we had the work all in types, corrected, and a clean copy
+thrown off for further revisal. The first sheet was wrought off; and I
+never shall forget how my heart exulted when at the printing house this
+day I saw what numbers of my works were to go abroad among mankind, and
+I determined with myself that I would not put the Border name of
+Elliot, which I had assumed, to the work.
+
+
+
+Thus far have my History and Confessions been carried.
+
+I must now furnish my Christian readers with a key to the process,
+management, and winding up of the whole matter; which I propose, by the
+assistance of God, to limit to a very few pages.
+
+Chesters, July 27, 1712.--My hopes and prospects are a wreck. My
+precious journal is lost! consigned to the flames! My enemy hath found
+me out, and there is no hope of peace or rest for me on this side the
+grave.
+
+In the beginning of last week, my fellow lodger came home, running in a
+great panic, and told me a story of the Devil having appeared twice in
+the printing house, assisting the workmen at the printing of my book,
+and that some of them had been frightened out of their wits. That the
+story was told to Mr. Watson, who till that time had never paid any
+attention to the treatise, but who, out of curiosity, began and read a
+part of it, and thereupon flew into a great rage, called my work a
+medley of lies and blasphemy, and ordered the whole to be consigned to
+the flames, blaming his foreman, and all connected with the press, for
+letting a work go so far that was enough to bring down the vengeance of
+Heaven on the concern.
+
+If ever I shed tears through perfect bitterness of spirit it was at
+that time, but I hope it was more for the ignorance and folly of my
+countrymen than the overthrow of my own hopes. But my attention was
+suddenly aroused to other matters, by Linton mentioning  that it was
+said by some in the office the Devil had inquired for me.
+
+"Surely you are not such a fool," said I, "as to believe that the Devil
+really was in the printing office?"
+
+"Oo, Gud bless you, sir! Saw him myself, gave him a nod, and good-day.
+Rather a gentlemanly personage--Green Circassian hunting coat and
+turban--Like a foreigner--Has the power of vanishing in one moment
+though--Rather a suspicious circumstance that. Otherwise, his
+appearance not much against him."
+
+If the former intelligence thrilled me with grief, this did so with
+terror. I perceived who the personage was that had visited the printing
+house in order to further the progress of my work; and, at the approach
+of every person to our lodgings, I from that instant trembled every
+bone, lest it should be my elevated and dreaded friend. I could not say
+I had ever received an office at his hand that was not friendly, yet
+these offices had been of a strange tendency; and the horror with which
+I now regarded him was unaccountable to myself. It was beyond
+description, conception, or the soul of man to bear. I took my printed
+sheets, the only copy of my unfinished work existing; and, on pretence
+of going straight to Mr. Watson's office, decamped from my lodgings at
+Portsburgh a little before the fall of evening, and took the road
+towards England.
+
+As soon as I got clear of the city, I ran with a velocity I knew not
+before I had been capable of. I flew out the way towards Dalkeith so
+swiftly that I often lost sight of the ground, and I said to myself,
+"Oh, that I had the wings of a dove, that I might fly to the farthest
+corners of the earth, to hide me from those against whom I have no
+power to stand!"
+
+I travelled all that night and the next morning, exerting myself beyond
+my power; and about noon the following day I went into a yeoman's
+house, the name of which was Ellanshaws, and requested of the people a
+couch of any sort to lie down on, for I was ill, and could not proceed
+on my journey. They showed me to a stable-loft where there were two
+beds, on one of which I laid me down; and, falling into a sound sleep,
+I did not awake till the evening, that other three men came from the
+fields to sleep in the same place, one of whom lay down beside me, at
+which I was exceedingly glad. They fell all sound asleep, and I was
+terribly alarmed at a conversation I overheard somewhere outside the
+stable. I could not make out a sentence, but trembled to think I knew
+one of the voices at least, and, rather than not be mistaken, I would
+that any man had run me through with a sword. I fell into a cold sweat,
+and once thought of instantly putting hand to my own life, as my only
+means of relief (may the rash and sinful thought be in mercy forgiven!)
+when I heard as it were two persons at the door, contending, as I
+thought, about their right and interest in me. That the one was
+forcibly preventing the admission of the other, I could hear
+distinctly, and their language was mixed with something dreadful and
+mysterious. In an agony of terror, I awakened my snoring companion with
+great difficulty, and asked him, in a low whisper, who these were at
+the door. The man lay silent and listening till fairly awake, and then
+asked if I heard anything. I said I had heard strange voices contending
+at the door.
+
+"Then I can tell you, lad, it has been something neither good nor
+canny," said he. "It's no for naething that our horses are snorking
+that gate."
+
+For the first time, I remarked that the animals were snorting and
+rearing as if they wished to break through the house. The man called to
+them by their names, and ordered them to be quiet; but they raged still
+the more furiously. He then roused his drowsy companions, who were
+alike alarmed at the panic of the horses, all of them declaring that
+they had never seen either Mause or jolly start in their lives before.
+My bed-fellow and another then ventured down the ladder, and I heard
+one of them then saying: "Lord be wi' us! What can be i' the house? The
+sweat's rinning off the poor beasts like water."
+
+They agreed to sally out together, and if possible to reach the kitchen
+and bring a light. I was glad at this, but not so much so when I heard
+the one man saying to the other, in a whisper: "I wish that stranger
+man may be canny enough."
+
+"God kens!" said the other. "It does nae look unco weel."
+
+The lad in the other bed, hearing this, set up his head in manifest
+affright as the other two departed for the kitchen; and, I believed he
+would have been glad to have been in their company. This lad was next
+the ladder, at which I was extremely glad, for, had he not been there,
+the world should not have induced me to wait the return of these two
+men. They were not well gone before I heard another distinctly enter
+the stable, and come towards the ladder. The lad who was sitting up in
+his bed, intent on the watch, called out: "Wha's that there? Walker, is
+that you? Purdie, I say is it you?"
+
+The darkling intruder paused for a few moments, and then came towards
+the foot of the ladder. The horses broke loose, and, snorting and
+neighing for terror, raged through the house. In all my life I never
+heard so frightful a commotion. The being that occasioned it all now
+began to mount the ladder towards our loft, on which the lad in the bed
+next the ladder sprung from his couch, crying out: "The L--d A--y
+preserve us! What can it be?" With that he sped across the loft and by
+my bed, praying lustily all the way; and, throwing himself from the
+other end of the loft into a manger, he darted, naked as he was,
+through among the furious horses, and, making the door that stood open,
+in a moment he vanished and left me in the lurch. Powerless with
+terror, and calling out fearfully, I tried to follow his example; but,
+not knowing the situation of the places with regard to one another, I
+missed the manger, and fell on the pavement in one of the stalls. I was
+both stunned and lamed on the knee; but, terror prevailing, I got up
+and tried to escape. It was out of my power; for there were divisions
+and cross divisions in the house, and mad horses smashing everything
+before them, so that I knew not so much as on what side of the house
+the door was. Two or three times was I knocked down by the animals, but
+all the while I never stinted crying out with all my power. At length,
+I was seized by the throat and hair of the head, and dragged away, I
+wist not whither. My voice was now laid, and all my powers, both mental
+and bodily, totally overcome; and I remember no more till I found
+myself lying naked on the kitchen table of the farm-house, and
+something like a horse's rug thrown over me. The only hint that I got
+from the people of the house on coming to myself was that my absence
+would be good company; and that they had got me in a woeful state, one
+which they did not choose to describe, or hear described.
+
+As soon as day-light appeared, I was packed about my business, with the
+hisses and execrations of the yeoman's family, who viewed me as a being
+to be shunned, ascribing to me the visitations of that unholy night.
+Again was I on my way southwards, as lonely, hopeless, and degraded a
+being as was to be found on life's weary round. As I limped out the
+way, I wept, thinking of what I might have been, and what I really had
+become: of my high and flourishing hopes when I set out as the avenger
+of God on the sinful children of men; of all that I had dared for the
+exaltation and progress of the truth; and it was with great difficulty
+that my faith remained unshaken, yet was I preserved from that sin, and
+comforted myself with the certainty that the believer's progress
+through life is one of warfare and suffering.
+
+My case was indeed a pitiable one. I was lame, hungry, fatigued, and my
+resources on the very eve of being exhausted. Yet these were but
+secondary miseries, and hardly worthy of a thought compared with those
+I suffered inwardly. I not only looked around me with terror at every
+one that approached, but I was become a terror to myself, or, rather,
+my body and soul were become terrors to each other; and, had it been
+possible, I felt as if they would have gone to war. I dared not look at
+my face in a glass, for I shuddered at my own image and likeness. I
+dreaded the dawning, and trembled at the approach of night, nor was
+there one thing in nature that afforded me the least delight.
+
+In this deplorable state of body and mind, was I jogging on towards the
+Tweed, by the side of the small river called Ellan, when, just at the
+narrowest part of the glen, whom should I meet full in the face but the
+very being in all the universe of God would the most gladly have
+shunned. I had no power to fly fro him, neither durst I, for the spirit
+within me, accuse him of falsehood and renounce his fellowship. I stood
+before him like a condemned criminal, staring him in the face, ready to
+be winded, twisted, and tormented as he pleased. He regarded me with a
+sad and solemn look. How changed was now that majestic countenance to
+one of haggard despair--changed in all save the extraordinary likeness
+to my late brother, a resemblance which misfortune and despair tended
+only to heighten. There were no kind greetings passed between us at
+meeting, like those which pass between the men of the world; he looked
+on me with eyes that froze the currents of my blood, but spoke not till
+I assumed as much courage as to articulate: "You here! I hope you have
+brought me tidings of comfort?"
+
+"Tidings of despair!" said he. "But such tidings as the timid and the
+ungrateful deserve, and have reason to expect. You are an outlaw, and a
+vagabond in your country, and a high reward is offered for your
+apprehension. The enraged populace have burnt your house, and all that
+is within it; and the farmers on the land bless themselves at being rid
+of you. So fare it with everyone who puts his hand to the great work of
+man's restoration to freedom, and draweth back, contemning the light
+that is within him! Your enormities caused me to leave you to yourself
+for a season, and you see what the issue has been. You have given some
+evil ones power over you, who long to devour you, both soul and body,
+and it has required all my power and influence to save you. Had it not
+been for my hand, you had been torn in pieces last night; but for once
+I prevailed. We must leave this land forthwith, for here there is
+neither peace, safety, nor comfort for us. Do you now and here pledge
+yourself to one who has so often saved your life and has put his own at
+stake to do so? Do you pledge yourself that you will henceforth be
+guided by my counsel, and follow me whithersoever I choose to lead?"
+
+"I have always been swayed by your counsel," said I, "and for your
+sake, principally, am I sorry that all our measures have proved
+abortive. But I hope still to be useful in my native isle, therefore
+let me plead that your highness will abandon a poor despised and
+outcast wretch to his fate, and betake you to your realms, where your
+presence cannot but be greatly wanted."
+
+"Would that I could do so!" said he woefully. "But to talk of that is
+to talk of an impossibility. I am wedded to you so closely that I feel
+as if I were the same person. Our essences are one, our bodies and
+spirits being united, so that I am drawn towards you as by magnetism,
+and, wherever you are, there must my presence be with you."
+
+Perceiving how this assurance affected me, he began to chide me most
+bitterly for my ingratitude; and then he assumed such looks that it was
+impossible for me longer to bear them; therefore I staggered out of the
+way, begging and beseeching of him to give me up to my fate, and hardly
+knowing what I said; for it struck me that, with all his assumed
+appearance of misery and wretchedness, there were traits of exultation
+in his hideous countenance, manifesting a secret and inward joy at my
+utter despair.
+
+It was long before I durst look over my shoulder, but, when I did so, I
+perceived this ruined and debased potentate coming slowly on the same
+path, and I prayed that the Lord would hide me in the bowels of the
+earth or depths of the sea. When I crossed the Tweed, I perceived him
+still a little behind me; and, my despair being then at its height, I
+cursed the time I first met with such a tormentor; though on a little
+recollection it occurred that it was at that blessed time when I was
+solemnly dedicated to the Lord, and assured of my final election, and
+confirmation, by an eternal decree never to be annulled. This being my
+sole and only comfort, I recalled my curse upon the time, and repented
+me o my rashness.
+
+After crossing the Tweed, I saw no more of my persecutor that day, and
+had hopes that he had left me for a season; but, alas, what hope was
+there of my relief after the declaration I had so lately heard! I took
+up my lodgings that night in a small miserable inn in the village of
+Ancrum, of which the people seemed alike poor and ignorant. Before
+going to bed, I asked if it was customary with them to have family
+worship of evenings. The man answered that they were so hard set with
+the world they often could not get time, but if I would be so kind as
+to officiate they would be much obliged to me. I accepted the
+invitation, being afraid to go to rest lest the commotions of the
+foregoing night might be renewed, and continued the worship as long as
+in decency I could. The poor people thanked me, hoped my prayers would
+be heard both on their account and my own, seemed much taken with my
+abilities, and wondered how a man of my powerful eloquence chanced to
+be wandering about in a condition so forlorn. I said I was a poor
+student of theology, on my way to Oxford. They stared at one another
+with expressions of wonder, disappointment, and fear. I afterwards came
+to learn that the term theology was by them quite misunderstood, and
+that they had some crude conceptions that nothing was taught at Oxford
+but the black arts, which ridiculous idea prevailed over all the south
+of Scotland. For the present I could not understand what the people
+meant, and less so when the man asked me, with deep concern: "If I was
+serious in my intentions of going to Oxford? He hoped not, and that I
+would be better guided."
+
+I said my education wanted finishing; but he remarked that the Oxford
+arts were a bad finish for a religious man's education. Finally, I
+requested him to sleep with me, or in my room all the night, as I
+wanted some serious and religious conversation with him, and likewise
+to convince him that the study of the fine arts, though not absolutely
+necessary, were not incompatible with the character of a Christian
+divine. He shook his head, and wondered how I could call them fine
+arts--hoped I did not mean to convince him by any ocular demonstration,
+and at length reluctantly condescended to sleep with me, and let the
+lass and wife sleep together for one night. I believe he would have
+declined it had it not been some hints from his wife, stating that it
+was a good arrangement, by which I understood there were only two beds
+in the house, and that when I was preferred to the lass's bed, she had
+one to shift for.
+
+The landlord and I accordingly retired to our homely bed, and conversed
+for some time about indifferent matters, till he fell sound asleep. Not
+so with me: I had that within which would not suffer me to close my
+eyes; and, about the dead of night, I again heard the same noises and
+contention begin outside the house as I had heard the night before; and
+again I heard it was about a sovereign and peculiar right in me. At one
+time the noise was on the top of the house, straight above our bed, as
+if the one party were breaking through the roof, and the other forcibly
+preventing it; at another it was at the door, and at a third time at
+the window; but still mine host lay sound by my side, and did not
+waken. I was seized with terrors indefinable, and prayed fervently, but
+did not attempt rousing my sleeping companion until I saw if no better
+could be done. The women, however, were alarmed, and, rushing into our
+apartment, exclaimed that all the devils in hell were besieging the
+house. Then, indeed, the landlord awoke, and it was time for him, for
+the tumult had increased to such a degree that it shook the house to
+its foundations, being louder and more furious than I could have
+conceived the heat of battle to be when the volleys of artillery are
+mixed with groans, shouts, and blasphemous cursing. It thundered and
+lightened; and there were screams, groans, laughter, and execrations,
+all intermingled.
+
+I lay trembling and bathed in a cold perspiration, but was soon obliged
+to bestir myself, the inmates attacking me one after the other.
+
+"Oh, Tam Douglas! Tam Douglas! haste ye an' rise out frayont that
+incarnal devil!" cried the wife. "Ye are in ayont the auld ane himsel,
+for our lass Tibbie saw his cloven cloots last night."
+
+"Lord forbid!" roared Tam Douglas, and darted over the bed like a
+flying fish. Then, hearing the unearthly tumult with which he was
+surrounded, he turned to the side of the bed, and addressed me thus,
+with long and fearful intervals:
+
+"If ye be the Deil, rise up, an' depart in peace out o' this
+house--afore the bedstrae take kindling about ye, an' than it'll maybe
+be the waur for ye. Get up--an' gang awa out amang your cronies, like a
+good lad. There's nae body here wishes you ony ill. D'ye hear me?"
+
+"Friend," said I, "no Christian would turn out a fellow creature on
+such a night as this and in the midst of such a commotion of the
+villagers."
+
+"Na, if ye be a mortal man," said he, "which I rather think, from the
+use you made of the holy book. Nane o' your practical jokes on
+strangers an' honest foks. These are some o' your Oxford tricks, an'
+I'll thank you to be ower wi' them. Gracious heaven, they are brikkin
+through the house at a' the four corners at the same time!"
+
+The lass Tibby, seeing the innkeeper was not going to prevail with me
+to rise, flew towards the bed in desperation, and, seizing me by the
+waist, soon landed me on the floor, saying: "Be ye deil, be ye chiel,
+ye's no lie there till baith the house an' us be swallowed up!"
+
+Her master and mistress applauding the deed, I was obliged to attempt
+dressing myself, a task to which my powers were quite inadequate in the
+state I was in, but I was readily assisted by every one of the three;
+and, as soon as they got my clothes thrust on in a loose way, they shut
+their eyes lest they should see what might drive them distracted, and
+thrust me out to the street, cursing me, and calling on the fiends to
+take their prey and be gone.
+
+The scene that ensued is neither to be described nor believed if it
+were. I was momently surrounded by a number of hideous fiends, who
+gnashed on me with their teeth, and clenched their crimson paws in my
+face; and at the same instant I was seized by the collar of my coat
+behind, by my dreaded and devoted friend, who pushed me on and, with
+his gilded rapier waving and brandishing around me, defended me against
+all their united attacks. Horrible as my assailants were in appearance
+(and they all had monstrous shapes) I felt that I would rather have
+fallen into their hands than be thus led away captive by my defender at
+his will and pleasure without having the right or power to say my life,
+or any part of my will, was my own. I could not even thank him for his
+potent guardianship, but hung down my head, and moved on I knew not
+whither, like a criminal led to execution and still the infernal combat
+continued till about the dawning, at which time I looked up, and all
+the fiends were expelled but one, who kept at a distance; and still my
+persecutor and defender pushed me by the neck before him.
+
+At length he desired me to sit down and take some rest, with which I
+complied, for I had great need of it, and wanted the power to withstand
+what he desired. There, for a whole morning did he detain me,
+tormenting me with reflections on the past, and pointing out the
+horrors of the future, until a thousand times I wished myself
+non-existent. "I have attached myself to your wayward fortune," said
+he, "and it has been my ruin as well as thine. Ungrateful as you are, I
+cannot give you up to be devoured; but this is a life that it is
+impossible to brook longer. Since our hopes are blasted in this world,
+and all our schemes of grandeur overthrown; and since our everlasting
+destiny is settled by a decree which no act of ours can invalidate, let
+us fall by our own hands, or by the hands of each other; die like
+heroes; and, throwing off this frame of dross and corruption, mingle
+with the pure ethereal essence of existence, from which we derived our
+being."
+
+I shuddered at a view of the dreadful alternative, yet was obliged to
+confess that in my present circumstances existence was not to be borne.
+It was in vain that I reasoned on the sinfulness of the deed, and on
+its damning nature; he made me condemn myself out of my own mouth, by
+allowing the absolute nature of justifying grace and the impossibility
+of the elect ever falling from the faith, or the glorious end to which
+they were called; and then he said, this granted, self-destruction was
+the act of a hero, and none but a coward would shrink from it, to
+suffer a hundred times more every day and night that passed over his
+head.
+
+I said I was still contented to be that coward; and all that I begged
+of him was to leave me to my fortune for a season, and to the just
+judgement of my Creator; but he said his word and honour were engaged
+on my behalf, and these, in such a case, were not to be violated. "If
+you will not pity yourself, have pity onme," added he. "Turn your eyes
+on me, and behold to what I am reduced."
+
+Involuntarily did I turn at the request, and caught a half glance of
+his features. May no eye destined to reflect the beauties of the New
+Jerusalem inward upon the beatific soul behold such a sight as mine
+then beheld! My immortal spirit, blood and bones, were all withered at
+the blasting sight; and I arose and withdrew, with groanings which the
+pangs of death shall never wring from me.
+
+Not daring to look behind me, I crept on my way, and that night reached
+this hamlet on the Scottish border; and being grown reckless of danger,
+and hardened to scenes of horror, I took up my lodging with a poor
+hind, who is a widower, and who could only accommodate me with a bed of
+rushes at his fireside. At midnight I heard some strange sounds, too
+much resembling those to which I had of late been inured; but they kept
+at a distance, and I was soon persuaded that there was a power
+protected that house superior to those that contended for or had the
+mastery over me. Overjoyed at finding such an asylum, I remained in the
+humble cot. This is the third day I have lived under the roof, freed of
+my hellish assailants, spending my time in prayer, and writing out this
+my journal, which I have fashioned to stick in with my printed work,
+and to which I intend to add portions while I remain in this pilgrimage
+state, which, I find too well, cannot be long.
+
+August 3, 1712.--This morning the hind has brought me word from
+Redesdale, whither he had been for coals, that a stranger gentleman had
+been traversing that country, making the most earnest inquiries after
+me, or one of the same appearance; and, from the description that he
+brought of this stranger, I could easily perceive who it was. Rejoicing
+that my tormentor has lost traces of me for once, I am making haste to
+leave my asylum, on pretence of following this stranger, but in reality
+to conceal myself still more completely from his search. Perhaps this
+may be the last sentence ever I am destined to write. If so, farewell,
+Christian reader! May God grant to thee a happier destiny than has been
+allotted to me here on earth, and the same assurance of acceptance
+above! Amen.
+
+Ault-Righ, August 24, 1712.--Here am I, set down on the open moor to
+add one sentence more to my woeful journal; and, then, farewell, all
+beneath the sun!
+
+On leaving the hind's cottage on the Border, I hasted to the
+north-west, because in that quarter I perceived the highest and wildest
+hills before me. As I crossed the mountains above Hawick, I exchanged
+clothes with a poor homely shepherd, whom I found lying on a hill-side,
+singing to himself some woeful love ditty. He was glad of the change,
+and proud of his saintly apparel; and I was no less delighted with
+mine, by which I now supposed myself completely disguised; and I found
+moreover that in this garb of a common shepherd I was made welcome in
+every house. I slept the first night in a farm-house nigh to the church
+of Roberton, without hearing or seeing aught extraordinary; yet I
+observed next morning that all the servants kept aloof from me, and
+regarded me with looks of aversion. The next night I came to this
+house, where the farmer engaged me as a shepherd; and, finding him a
+kind, worthy, and religious man, I accepted of his terms with great
+gladness. I had not, however, gone many times to the sheep, before all
+the rest of the shepherds told my master that I knew nothing about
+herding, and begged of him to dismiss me. He perceived too well the
+truth of their intelligence; but, being much taken with my learning and
+religious conversation, he would not put me away, but set me to herd
+his cattle.
+
+It was lucky for me that before I came here a report had prevailed,
+perhaps for an age, that this farm-house was haunted at certain seasons
+by a ghost. I say it was lucky for me for I had not been in it many
+days before the same appalling noises began to prevail around me about
+midnight, often continuing till near the dawning. Still they kept
+aloof, and without doors; for this gentleman's house, like the cottage
+I was in formerly, seemed to be a sanctuary from all demoniacal power.
+He appears to be a good man and a just, and mocks at the idea of
+supernatural agency, and he either does not hear these persecuting
+spirits or will not acknowledge it, though of late he appears much
+perturbed.
+
+The consternation of the menials has been extreme. They ascribe all to
+the ghost, and tell frightful stories of murders having been committed
+there long ago. Of late, however, they are beginning to suspect that it
+is I that am haunted; and, as I have never given them any satisfactory
+account of myself, they are whispering that I am a murderer, and
+haunted by the spirits of those I have slain.
+
+August 30.--This day I have been informed that I am to be banished the
+dwelling-house by night, and to sleep in an outhouse by myself, to try
+if the family can get any rest when freed of my presence. I have
+peremptorily refused acquiescence, on which my master's brother struck
+me, and kicked me with his foot. My body being quite exhausted by
+suffering, I am grown weak and feeble both in mind and bodily frame,
+and actually unable to resent any insult or injury. I am the child of
+earthly misery and despair, if ever there was one existent. My master
+is still my friend; but there are so many masters here, and everyone of
+them alike harsh to me, that I wish myself in my grave every hour of
+the day. If I am driven from the family sanctuary by night, I know I
+shall be torn in pieces before morning; and then who will deign or dare
+to gather up my mangled limbs, and give me honoured burial?
+
+My last hour is arrived: I see my tormentor once more approaching me in
+this wild. Oh, that the earth would swallow me up, or the hill fall and
+cover me! Farewell for ever!
+
+September 7, 1712.--My devoted, princely, but sanguine friend has been
+with me again and again. My time is expired and I find a relief beyond
+measure, for he has fully convinced me that no act of mine can mar the
+eternal counsel, or in the smallest degree alter or extenuate one event
+which was decreed before the foundations of the world were laid. He
+said he had watched over me with the greatest anxiety, but, perceiving
+my rooted aversion towards him, he had forborne troubling me with his
+presence. But now, seeing that I was certainly to be driven from my
+sanctuary that night, and that there would be a number of infernals
+watching to make a prey of my body, he came to caution me not to
+despair, for that he would protect me at all risks, if the power
+remained with him. He then repeated an ejaculatory prayer, which I was
+to pronounce, if in great extremity. I objected to the words as
+equivocal, and susceptible of being rendered in a meaning perfectly
+dreadful; but he reasoned against this, and all reasoning with him is
+to no purpose. He said he did not ask me to repeat the words unless
+greatly straitened; and that I saw his strength and power giving way,
+and when perhaps nothing else could save me.
+
+The dreaded hour of night arrived; and, as he said, I was expelled from
+the family residence, and ordered to a byre, or cow-house, that stood
+parallel with  the dwelling-house behind, where, on a divot loft, my
+humble bedstead stood, and the cattle grunted and puffed below me. How
+unlike the splendid halls of Dalcastle! And to what I am now reduced,
+let the reflecting reader judge. Lord, thou knowest all that I have
+done for Thy cause on earth! Why then art Thou laying Thy hand so sore
+upon me? Why hast Thou set me as a butt of Thy malice? But Thy will
+must be done! Thou wilt repay me in a better world. Amen.
+
+September 8.--My first night of trial in this place is overpast! Would
+that it were the last that I should ever see in this detested world! If
+the horrors of hell are equal to those I have suffered, eternity will
+be of short duration there, for no created energy can support them for
+one single month, or week. I have been buffeted as never living
+creature was. My vitals have all been torn, and every faculty and
+feeling of my soul racked, and tormented into callous insensibility. I
+was even hung by the locks over a yawning chasm, to which I could
+perceive no bottom, and then--not till then, did I repeat the
+tremendous prayer!--I was instantly at liberty; and what I now am, the
+Almighty knows! Amen.
+
+September 18, 1712.--Still am I living, though liker to a vision than a
+human being; but this is my last day of mortal existence. Unable to
+resist any longer, I pledged myself to my devoted friend that on this
+day we should die together, and trust to the charity of the children of
+men for a grave. I am solemnly pledged; and, though I dared to repent,
+I am aware he will not be gainsaid, for he is raging with despair at
+his fallen and decayed majesty, and there is some miserable comfort in
+the idea that my tormentor shall fall with me. Farewell, world, with
+all thy miseries; for comforts or enjoyments hast thou none! Farewell,
+woman, whom I have despised and shunned; and man, whom I have hated;
+whom, nevertheless, I desire to leave in charity! And thou, sun, bright
+emblem of a far brighter effulgence, I bid farewell to thee also! I do
+not now take my last look of thee, for to thy glorious orb shall a poor
+suicide's last earthly look be raised. But, ah! who is yon that I see
+approaching furiously, his stern face blackened with horrid despair! My
+hour is at hand. Almighty God, what is this that I am about to do! The
+hour of repentance is past, and now my fate is inevitable. Amen, for
+ever! I will now seal up my little book, and conceal it; and cursed be
+he who trieth to alter or amend.
+
+
+END OF THE MEMOIR
+
+
+
+WHAT can this work be? Sure, you will say, it must be an allegory; or
+(as the writer calls it) a religious PARABLE, showing the dreadful
+danger of self-righteousness? I cannot tell. Attend to the sequel:
+which is a thing so extraordinary, so unprecedented, and so far out of
+the common course of human events that, if there were not hundreds of
+living witnesses to attest the truth of it, I would not bid any
+rational being believe it.
+
+In the first place, take the following extract from an authentic
+letter, published in Blackwood's Magazine for August, 1823.
+
+"On the top of a wild height called Cowan's-Croft, where the lands of
+three proprietors meet all at one point, there has been for long and
+many years the grave of a suicide marked out by a stone standing at the
+head and another at the feet. Often have I stood musing over it myself,
+when a shepherd on one of the farms, of which it formed the extreme
+boundary, and thinking what could induce a young man, who had scarcely
+reached the prime of life, to brave his Maker, and rush into His
+presence by an act of his own erring hand, and one so unnatural and
+preposterous. But it never once occurred to me, as an object of
+curiosity, to dig up the mouldering bones of the Culprit, which I
+considered as the most revolting of all objects. The thing was,
+however, done last month, and a discovery made of one of the greatest
+natural phenomena that I have heard of in this country.
+
+"The little traditionary history that remains of this unfortunate youth
+is altogether a singular one. He was not a native of the place, nor
+would he ever tell from what place he came; but he was remarkable for a
+deep, thoughtful, and sullen disposition. There was nothing against his
+character that anybody knew of here, and he had been a considerable
+time in the place. The last service he was in was with a Mr. Anderson,
+of Eltrive (Ault-Righ, the King's Burn), who died about 100 years ago,
+and who had hired him during the summer to herd a stock of young cattle
+in Eltrive Hope. It happened one day in the month of September that
+James Anderson, his master's son, went with this young man to the Hope
+to divert himself. The herd had his dinner along with him, and about
+one o'clock, when the boy proposed going home, the former pressed him
+very hard to stay and take share of his dinner; but the boy refused for
+fear his parents might be alarmed about him, and said he would go home:
+on which the herd said to him, 'Then, if ye winna stay with me, James,
+ye may depend on't I'll cut my throat afore ye come back again.'
+
+"I have heard it likewise reported, but only by one person, that there
+had been some things stolen out of his master's house a good while
+before, and that the boy had discovered a silver knife and fork that
+was a part of the stolen property, in the herd's possession that day,
+and that it was this discovery that drove him to despair.
+
+"The boy did not return to the Hope that afternoon; and, before
+evening, a man coming in at the pass called The Hart Loup, with a drove
+of lambs, on the way for Edinburgh, perceived something like a man
+standing in a strange frightful position at the side of one of
+Eldinhope hay-ricks. The driver's attention was riveted on this strange
+uncouth figure, and, as the drove-road passed at no great distance from
+the spot, he first called, but, receiving no answer, he went up to the
+spot, and behold it was the above-mentioned young man, who had hung
+himself in the hay rope that was tying down the rick.
+
+"This was accounted a great wonder; and everyone said, if the Devil had
+not assisted him, it was impossible the thing could have been done;
+for, in general, these ropes are so brittle, being made of green hay,
+that they will scarcely bear to be bound over the rick. And, the more
+to horrify the good people of this neighbourhood, the driver said, when
+he first came in view, he could almost give his oath that he saw two
+people busily engaged at the hay-rick going round it and round it, and
+he thought they were dressing it.
+
+"If this asseveration approximated at all to truth, it makes this
+evident at least, that the unfortunate young man had hanged himself
+after the man with the lambs came in view. He was, however, quite dead
+when he cut him down. He had fastened two of the old hay-ropes at the
+bottom of the rick on one side (indeed, they are all fastened so when
+first laid on) so that he had nothing to do but to loosen two of the
+ends on the other side. These he had tied in a knot round his neck, and
+then slackening his knees, and letting himself down gradually, till the
+hay-rope bore all his weight, he had contrived to put an end to his
+existence in that way. Now the fact is, that, if you try all the ropes
+that are thrown over all the out-field hay-ricks in Scotland, there is
+not one among a thousand of them will hang a colley dog; so that the
+manner of this wretch's death was rather a singular circumstance.
+
+"Early next morning, Mr. Anderson's servants went reluctantly away,
+and, taking an old blanket with them for a winding sheet, they rolled
+up the body of the deceased, first in his own plaid, letting the
+hay-rope still remain about his neck, and then, rolling the old blanket
+over all, they bore the loathed remains away to the distance of three
+miles or so, on spokes, to the top of Cowan's-Croft, at the very point
+where the Duke of Buccleuch's land, the Laird of Drummelzier's, and
+Lord Napier's meet, and there they buried him, with all that he had on
+and about him, silver knife and fork and altogether. Thus far went
+tradition, and no one ever disputed one jot of the disgusting oral tale.
+
+"A nephew of that Mr. Anderson's who was with the hapless youth that
+day he died says that, as far as he can gather from the relations of
+friends that he remembers, and of that same uncle in particular, it is
+one hundred and five years next month (that is September, 1823) since
+that event happened; and I think it likely that this gentleman's
+information is correct. But sundry other people, much older than he,
+whom I have consulted, pretend that it is six or seven years more. They
+say they have heard that Mr. James Anderson was then a boy ten years of
+age; that he lived to an old age, upwards of fourscore, and it is two
+and forty years since he died. Whichever way it may be, it was about
+that period some way: of that there is no doubt.
+
+"It so happened that two young men, William Shiel and W. Sword, were
+out on an adjoining height this summer, casting peats, and it came into
+their heads to open this grave in the wilderness, and see if there were
+any of the bones of the suicide of former ages and centuries remaining.
+They did so, but opened only one half of the grave, beginning at the
+head and about the middle at the same time. It was not long till they
+came upon the old blanket--I think, they said not much more than a foot
+from the surface. They tore that open, and there was the hay-rope lying
+stretched down alongst his breast, so fresh that they saw at first
+sight that it was made of risp, a sort of long sword-grass that grows
+about marshes and the sides of lakes. One of the young men seized the
+rope and pulled by it, but the old enchantment of the Devil
+remained--it would not break; and so he pulled and pulled at it, till
+behold the body came up into a sitting posture, with a broad blue
+bonnet on its head, and its plaid around it, all as fresh as that day
+it was laid in! I never heard of a preservation so wonderful, if it be
+true as was related to me, for still I have not had the curiosity to go
+and view the body myself. The features were all so plain that an
+acquaintance might easily have known him. One of the lads gripped the
+face of the corpse with his finger and thumb, and the cheeks felt quite
+soft and fleshy, but the dimples remained and did not spring out again.
+He had fine yellow hair, about nine inches long; but not a hair of it
+could they pull out till they cut part of it off with a knife. They
+also cut off some portions of his clothes, which were all quite fresh,
+and distributed them among their acquaintances, sending a portion to
+me, among the rest, to keep as natural curiosities. Several gentlemen
+have in a manner forced me to give them fragments of these enchanted
+garments: I have, however, retained a small portion for you, which I
+send along with this, being a piece of his plaid, and another of his
+waistcoat breast, which you will see are still as fresh as that day
+they were laid in the grave.
+
+"His broad blue bonnet was sent to Edinburgh several weeks ago, to the
+great regret of some gentlemen connected with the land, who wished to
+have it for a keep-sake. For my part, fond as I am of blue bonnets, and
+broad ones in particular, I declare I durst not have worn that one.
+There was nothing of the silver knife and fork discovered, that I heard
+of, nor was it very likely it should; but it would appear he had been
+very near run out of cash, which I daresay had been the cause of his
+utter despair; for, on searching his pockets, nothing was found but
+three old Scotch halfpennies. These young men meeting with another
+shepherd afterwards, his curiosity was so much excited that they went
+and digged up the curious remains a second time, which was a pity, as
+it is likely that by these exposures to the air, and the impossibility
+of burying it up again as closely as it was before, the flesh will now
+fall to dust."
+
+The letter from which the above is an extract, is signed JAMES HOGG,
+and dated from Altrive Lake, August 1st, 1823. It bears the stamp of
+authenticity in every line; yet so often had I been hoaxed by the
+ingenious fancies displayed in that Magazine, that when this relation
+met my eye I did not believe it; but, from the moment that I perused
+it, I half formed the resolution of investigating these wonderful
+remains personally, if any such existed; for, in the immediate vicinity
+of the scene, as I supposed, I knew of more attractive metal than the
+dilapidated remains of mouldering suicides.
+
+Accordingly, having some business in Edinburgh in September last, and
+being obliged to wait a few days for the arrival of a friend from
+London, I took that opportunity to pay a visit to my townsman and
+fellow collegian, Mr. L--t of C--d, advocate. I mentioned to him Hogg's
+letter, asking him if the statement was founded at all on truth. His
+answer was: "I suppose so. For my part I never doubted the thing,
+having been told that there has been a deal of talking about it up in
+the Forest for some time past. But God knows! Hogg has imposed as
+ingenious lies on the public ere now."
+
+I said, if it was within reach, I should like exceedingly to visit both
+the Shepherd and the Scotch mummy he had described. Mr. L--t assented
+on the first proposal, saying he had no objections to take a ride that
+length with me, and make the fellow produce his credentials. That we
+would have a delightful jaunt through a romantic and now classical
+country, and some good sport into the bargain, provided he could
+procure a horse for me, from his father-in-law, next day. He sent up to
+a Mr. L--w to inquire, who returned for answer that there was an
+excellent pony at my service, and that he himself would accompany us,
+being obliged to attend a great sheep-fair at Thirlestane; and that he
+was certain the Shepherd would be there likewise.
+
+Mr. L--t said that was the very man we wanted to make our party
+complete; and at an early hour next morning we started for the ewe-fair
+of Thirlestane, taking Blackwood's Magazine for August along with us.
+We rode through the ancient royal burgh of Selkirk, halted and corned
+our horses at a romantic village, nigh to some deep linns on the
+Ettrick, and reached the market ground at Thirlestane-green a little
+before mid-day. We soon found Hogg, standing near the foot of the
+market, as he called it, beside a great drove of paulies, a species of
+stock that I never heard of before. They were small sheep, striped on
+the backs with red chalk. Mr. L--t introduced me to him as a great
+wool-stapler, come to raise the price of that article; but he eyed me
+with distrust, and, turning his back on us, answered: "I hae sell'd
+mine."
+
+I followed, and, shewing him the above-quoted letter, said I was
+exceedingly curious to have a look of these singular remains he had so
+ingeniously described; but he only answered me with the remark that "It
+was a queer fancy for a wool-stapler to tak."
+
+His two friends then requested him to accompany us to the spot, and to
+take some of his shepherds with us to assist in raising the body; but
+he spurned at the idea, saying: "Od bless ye, lad! I hae ither matters
+to mind. I hae a' thae paulies to sell, an', a' yon Highland stotts
+down on the green, every ane; an' then I hae ten scores o' yowes to buy
+after, an', If I canna first sell my ain stock, I canna buy nae ither
+body's. I hae mair ado than I can manage the day, foreby ganging to
+houk up hunder-year-auld-banes."
+
+Finding that we could make nothing of him, we left him with his
+paulies, Highland stotts, grey jacket, and broad blue bonnet, to go in
+search of some other guide. L--w soon found one, for he seemed
+acquainted with every person in the fair. We got a fine old shepherd,
+named W--m B--e, a great original, and a very obliging and civil man,
+who asked no conditions but that we should not speak of it, because he
+did not wish it to come to his master's ears that he had been engaged
+in sic a profane thing. We promised strict secrecy; and accompanied by
+another farmer, Mr. S--t, and old B--e, we proceeded to the grave,
+which B--e described as about a mile and a half distant from the market
+ground.
+
+We went into the shepherd's cot to get a drink of milk, when I read to
+our guide Mr. Hogg's description, asking him if he thought it correct.
+He said there was hardly a bit o't correct, for the grave was not on
+the hill of Cowan's-Croft nor yet on the point where three lairds'
+lands met, but on the top of a hill called the Faw-Law, where there was
+no land that was not the Duke of Buccleuch's within a quarter of a
+mile. He added that it was a wonder how the poet could be mistaken
+there, who once herded the very ground where the grave is, and saw both
+hills from his own window. Mr. L--w testified great surprise at such a
+singular blunder, as also how the body came not to be buried at the
+meeting of three or four lairds' lands, which had always been customary
+in the south of Scotland. Our guide said he had always heard it
+reported that the Eltrive men, with Mr. David Anderson at their head,
+had risen before day on the Monday morning, it having been on the
+Sabbath day that the man put down himself; and that they set out with
+the intention of burying him on Cowan's-Croft, where the three marches
+met at a point. But, it having been an invariable rule to bury such
+lost sinners before the rising of the sun, these five men were
+overtaken by day-light, as they passed the house of Berry-Knowe; and,
+by the time they reached the top of the Faw-Law, the sun was beginning
+to skair the east. On this they laid down the body, and digged a deep
+grave with all expedition; but, when they had done, it was too short,
+and, the body being stiff, it would not go down; on which Mr. David
+Anderson, looking to the east and perceiving that the sun would be up
+on them in a few minutes, set his foot on the suicide's brow, and
+tramped down his head into the grave with his iron-heeled shoe, until
+the nose and skull crashed again, and at the same time uttered a
+terrible curse on the wretch who had disgraced the family and given
+them all this trouble. This anecdote, our guide said, he had heard when
+a boy, from the mouth of Robert Laidlaw, one of the five men who buried
+the body.
+
+We soon reached the spot, and I confess I felt a singular sensation
+when I saw the grey stone standing at the head, and another at the
+feet, and the one half of the grave manifestly new-digged, and closed
+up again as had been described. I could still scarcely deem the thing
+to be a reality, for the ground did not appear to be wet, but a kind of
+dry rotten moss. On looking around, we found some fragments of clothes,
+some teeth, and part of a pocket-book, which had not been returned into
+the grave when the body had been last raised, for it had been twice
+raised before this, but only from the loins upward.
+
+To work we fell with two spades, and soon cleared away the whole of the
+covering. The part of the grave that had been opened before was filled
+with mossy mortar, which impeded us exceedingly, and entirely prevented
+a proper investigation of the fore parts of the body. I will describe
+everything as I saw it before our respectable witnesses, whose names I
+shall publish at large if permitted. A number of the bones came up
+separately; for, with the constant flow of liquid stuff into the deep
+grave, we could not see to preserve them in their places. At length
+great loads of coarse clothes, blanketing, plaiding, etc. appeared; we
+tried to lift these regularly up, and, on doing so, part of a skeleton
+came up, but no flesh, save a little that was hanging in dark flitters
+about the spine, but which had no consistence; it was merely the
+appearance of flesh without the substance. The head was wanting, and, I
+being very anxious to possess the skull, the search was renewed among
+the mortar and rags. We first found a part of the scalp, with the long
+hair firm on it; which, on being cleaned, is neither black nor fair,
+but a darkish dusk, the most common of any other colour. Soon
+afterwards we found the skull, but it was not complete. A spade had
+damaged it, and one of the temple quarters was wanting. I am no
+phrenologist, not knowing one organ from another, but I thought the
+skull of that wretched man no study. If it was particular for anything,
+it was for a smooth, almost perfect rotundity, with only a little
+protuberance above the vent of the ear.
+
+When we came to that part of the grave that had never been opened
+before, the appearance of everything was quite different. There the
+remains lay under a close vault of moss, and within a vacant space; and
+I suppose, by the digging in the former part of the grave, the part had
+been deepened, and drawn the moisture away from this part, for here all
+was perfect. The breeches still suited the thigh, the stocking the leg,
+and the garters were wrapt as neatly and as firm below the knee as if
+they had been newly tied. The shoes were all open in the seams, the
+hemp having decayed, but the soles, upper leathers and wooden heels,
+which were made of birch, were all as fresh as any of those we wore.
+There was one thing I could not help remarking, that in the inside of
+one of the shoes there was a layer of cow's dung, about one-eighth of
+an inch thick, and in the hollow of the sole fully one-fourth of an
+inch. It was firm, green, and fresh; and proved that he had been
+working in a byre. His clothes were all of a singular ancient cut, and
+no less singular in their texture. Their durability certainly would
+have been prodigious; for in thickness, coarseness, and strength, I
+never saw any cloth in the smallest degree to equal them. His coat was
+a frock coat, of a yellowish drab colour, with wide sleeves. It is
+tweeled, milled, and thicker than a carpet. I cut off two of the skirts
+and brought them with me. His vest was of striped serge, such as I have
+often seen worn by country people. It was lined and backed with white
+stuff. The breeches were a sort of striped plaiding, which I never saw
+worn, but which our guide assured us was very common in the country
+once, though, from the old clothes which he had seen remaining of it,
+he judged that it could not be less than 200 years since it was in
+fashion. His garters were of worsted, and striped with black or blue;
+his stockings grey, and wanting the feet. I brought samples of all
+along with me. I have likewise now got possession of the bonnet, which
+puzzles me most of all. It is not conformable with the rest of the
+dress. It is neither a broad bonnet nor a Border bonnet; for there is
+an open behind, for tying, which no genuine Border bonnet I am told
+ever had. It seems to have been a Highland bonnet, worn in a flat way,
+like a scone on the crown, such as is sometimes still seen in the West
+of Scotland. All the limbs, from the loins to the toes, seemed perfect
+and entire, but they could not bear handling. Before we got them
+returned again into the grave they were  shaken to pieces, except the
+thighs, which continued to retain a kind of flabby form.
+
+All his clothes that were sewed with linen yam were lying in separate
+portions, the thread having rotten; but such as were sewed with worsted
+remained perfectly firm and sound. Among such a confusion, we had hard
+work to find out all his pockets, and our guide supposed that, after
+all, we did not find above the half of them. In his vest pocket was a
+long clasp-knife, very sharp; the haft was thin, and the scales shone
+as if there had been silver inside. Mr. Sc--t took it with him, and
+presented it to his neighbour, Mr. R--n, of W--n L--e, who still has it
+in his possession. We found a comb, a gimblet, a vial, a small neat
+square board, a pair of plated knee-buckles, and several samples of
+cloth of different kinds, rolled neatly up within one another. At
+length, while we were busy on the search, Mr. L--t picked up a leathern
+case, which seemed to have been wrapped round and round by some ribbon,
+or cord, that had been rotten from it, for the swaddling marks still
+remained. Both L--w and B--e called out that "it was the tobacco
+spleuchan, and a well-filled ane too"; but, on opening it out, we
+found, to our great astonishment, that it contained a printed pamphlet.
+We were all curious to see what sort of a pamphlet such a person would
+read; what it could contain that he seemed to have had such a care
+about. For the slough in which it was rolled was fine chamois leather;
+what colour it had been could not be known. But the pamphlet was
+wrapped so close together, and so damp, rotten, and yellow that it
+seemed one solid piece. We all concluded from some words that we could
+make out that it was a religious tract, but that it would be impossible
+to make anything of it. Mr. L--w remarked marked that it was a great
+pity if a few sentences could not be made out, for that it was a
+question what might be contained in that little book; and then he
+requested Mr. L--t to give it to me, as he had so many things of
+literature and law to attend to that he would never think more of it.
+He replied that either of us were heartily welcome to it, for that he
+had thought of returning it into the grave, if he could have made out
+but a line or two, to have seen what was its tendency.
+
+"Grave, man!" exclaimed L--w, who speaks excellent strong broad Scotch.
+"My truly, but ye grave weel! I wad esteem the contents o' that
+spleuchan as the most precious treasure. I'll tell you what it is, sir:
+I hae often wondered how it was that this man's corpse has been
+miraculously preserved frae decay, a hunder times langer than any other
+body's, or than ever a tanner's. But now I could wager a guinea it has
+been for the preservation o' that little book. And Lord kens what may
+be in't! It will maybe reveal some mystery that mankind disna ken
+naething about yet."
+
+"If there be any mysteries in it," returned the other, "it is not for
+your handling, my dear friend, who are too much taken up about
+mysteries already." And with these words he presented the mysterious
+pamphlet to me. With very little trouble, save that of a thorough
+drying, I unrolled it all with ease, and found the very tract which I
+have here ventured to lay before the public, part of it in small bad
+print, and the remainder in manuscript. The title page is written and
+is as follows:
+
+  THE PRIVATE MEMOIRS
+  AND CONFESSIONS
+  OF A JUSTIFIED SINNER:
+
+  WRITTEN BY HIMSELF
+
+  Fideli certa merces.
+
+And, alongst the head, it is the same as given in the present edition
+of the work. I altered the title to A Self-justified Sinner, but my
+booksellers did not approve of it; and, there being a curse pronounced
+by the writer on him that should dare to alter or amend, I have let it
+stand as it is. Should it be thought to attach discredit to any
+received principle of our Church, I am blameless. The printed part ends
+at page 201 and the rest is in a fine old hand, extremely small and
+close. I have ordered the printer to procure a facsimile of it, to be
+bound in with the volume. [v. Frontispiece.]
+
+With regard to the work itself, I dare not venture a judgment, for I do
+not understand it. I believe no person, man or woman, will ever peruse
+it with the same attention that I have done, and yet I confess that I
+do not comprehend the writer's drift. It is certainly impossible that
+these scenes could ever have occurred that he describes as having
+himself transacted. I think it may be possible that he had some hand in
+the death of his brother, and yet I am disposed greatly to doubt it;
+and the numerous traditions, etc. which remain of that event may be
+attributable to the work having been printed and burnt, and of course
+the story known to all the printers, with their families and gossips.
+That the young Laird of Dalcastle came by a violent death, there
+remains no doubt; but that this wretch slew him, there is to me a good
+deal. However, allowing this to have been the case, I account all the
+rest either dreaming or madness; or, as he says to Mr. Watson, a
+religious parable, on purpose to illustrate something scarcely
+tangible, but to which he seems to have attached great weight. Were the
+relation at all consistent with reason, it corresponds so minutely with
+traditionary facts that it could scarcely have missed to have been
+received as authentic; but in this day, and with the present
+generation, it will not go down that a man should be daily tempted by
+the Devil, in the semblance of a fellow-creature; and at length lured
+to self-destruction, in the hopes that this same fiend and tormentor
+was to suffer and fall along with him. It was a bold theme for an
+allegory, and would have suited that age well had it been taken up by
+one fully qualified for the task, which this writer was not. In short,
+we must either conceive him not only the greatest fool, but the
+greatest wretch, on whom was ever stamped the form of humanity; or,
+that he was a religious maniac, who wrote and wrote about a deluded
+creature, till he arrived at that height of madness that he believed
+himself the very object whom he had been all along describing. And, in
+order to escape from an ideal tormentor, committed that act for which,
+according to the tenets he embraced, there was no remission, and which
+consigned his memory and his name to everlasting detestation.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Private Memoirs and Confessions of
+a Justified Sinner, by James Hogg
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRIVATE MEMOIRS OF JUSTIFIED SINNER ***
+
+***** This file should be named 2276.txt or 2276.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/7/2276/
+
+Produced by Andreas Philipp and Martin Adamson. HTML version
+by Al Haines.
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.