inding this not avail him, he violently assaulted the
officers in the execution of their duty, and, being a powerful man, it
was not until those very deserving men had suffered severely in their
persons, and obtained the aid of the bystanders, that he was finally
secured. This, however, was ultimately accomplished, when the fellow
being securely handcuffed, was conducted to jail, and lodged in one of
the strongest cells, where he will, of course, remain until brought to
trial. There is a rumour that Smith has been concerned in some late
coach robbery; but we have heard no particulars, and cannot vouch for
its truth, although, from his appearance, we should suppose him to be
perfectly capable of anything."

Weel, guid reader, what do ye think o' that? Wasna that a pretty morsel
for me to swallow? It is true that I needna hae felt very uneasy aboot
the description o' a character that didna belang to me; but it maun be
observed that there was here that mixture o' fact and fiction which, in
cases o' rumour, it is sae difficult to separate. Moreover, I was
certainly the person spoken o', however erroneously represented; there
was nae denyin that. I was mingled up wi' the business, and the very
process o' establishin my innocence was certain to gie me a most
unpleasant notoriety; and was likely, besides, no to be in every case
successful. In short, I fand, tak it ony way I liked, that it couldna be
reckoned otherwise than as a most unlucky affair. It was noo, too, that
I began to smell a rat regardin the treatment I had met wi' frae the
different acquaintances I had ca'ed upon. They had either seen the
paragraph which I hae just quoted, or had heard o't. The same belief
explained to me the cause o' Mrs. Robertson's reflections on the risin
generation o' mankind, and her extraordinary sympathy for my father.
There could be nae doot o't--and thus was the mystery solved. Of this I
was still further satisfied, when, on takin up anither Glasgow paper o'
the same day, I fand that it also contained an account o' the mornin's
affair. The twa paragraphs were, on the whole, pretty much alike in
substance; but, in the second ane, there were twa or three incidental
circumstances mentioned that added to the interest o' the story
considerably.

Such, then, was the readin wi' which I beguiled the time on the evenin
o' which I am speakin; an' I leave it to the reader o' thae pages to
judge hoo far it was calculated to soothe my previously h