cts, 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 meant