er, the King's
counsel, in the most striking point of view. The patience and
temper with which he tried them on every side, and screwed out of
them the evidence they were so anxious to conceal, showed much
knowledge of human nature; and the art with which he arranged the
information he received, made the trial, upon the whole, the most
interesting I ever was present at. Downie's trial is just now
going forwards over my head; but as the evidence is just the same
as formerly brought against Watt, is not so interesting. You will
easily believe that on Wednesday my curiosity was too much
excited to retire at an early hour, and, indeed, I sat in the
Court from seven in the morning till two the next morning; but as
I had provided myself with some cold meat and a bottle of wine, I
contrived to support the fatigue pretty well. It strikes me, upon
the whole, that the plan of these miscreants might, from its very
desperate and improbable nature, have had no small chance of
succeeding, at least as far as concerned cutting off the
soldiers, and obtaining possession of the banks, besides shedding
the blood of the most distinguished inhabitants. There, I think,
the evil must have stopped, unless they had further support than
has yet appeared. Stooks was the prime mover of the whole, and
the person who supplied the money; and our theatrical
disturbances are found to have {p.207} formed one link of the
chain. So, I have no doubt, Messrs. Stooks, Burk, etc., would
have found out a new way of paying old debts. The _people_ are
perfectly quiescent upon this grand occasion, and seem to
interest themselves very little in the fate of their _soi-disant
friends_. The Edinburgh volunteers make a respectable and
formidable appearance already. They are exercised four hours
almost every day, with all the rigor of military discipline. The
grenadier company consists entirely of men above six feet. So
much for public news.

As to home intelligence--you know that my mother and Anne had
projected a _jaunt_ to Inverleithen; fate, however, had destined
otherwise. The intended day of departure was ushered in by a most
complete deluge, to which, and the consequent disappointment, our
proposed travellers did not submit with that Christian meekness
which might have beseemed.