an to
the Countess of Argyle's mother, and was on a footing of cordiality with
divers ladies of the bedchamber of what she called the three nobilities,
meaning those of Scotland, England, and Ireland; so that I saw there
might by her be opened a mean of espial into the camp of the
adversaries. So I told her of my long severe malady, and the shock I had
suffered by what I had seen of my martyred son, and entreated that she
would allow me to abide with her until my spirits were more composed.

Mrs Brownlee having the compassion of a Christian, and the tenderness of
her gentle sex, was moved by my story, and very readily consented.
Instead therefore of going forth at random in the evening, as I was at
one time mindet, I remained in her house; where indeed could I at that
time flee in the hope of finding any place of refuge? But although this
was adopted on the considerations of human reason, it was nevertheless a
link in the chain of providential methods by which I was to achieve the
fulfilment of my vow.

The house of Mrs Brownlee being, as I have intimated, nigh to the gate
of the city, I saw from the window all that went into and came out
therefrom; and the same afternoon I had visible evidence of the temper
wherewith the Duke of York and his counsellors had been actuated that
day at Holyrood, in consequence of the manner in which we had been
delivered from prison;--for Jack Windsor, the poor sentinel who was on
guard when we escaped by the window, was brought out, supported by two
of his companions, his feet having been so crushed in the torturous
boots before the Council, during his examination anent us, that he could
scarcely mark them to the ground; his hands were also bound in cloths,
through which the blood was still oozing, from the pressure of those
dreadful thumbikins of iron, that were so often used in those days to
screw accusations out of honest men. A sympathizing crowd followed the
destroyed sufferer, and the sight for a little while afflicted me with
sore regret. But when I considered the compassion that the people showed
for him, I was filled with a strange satisfaction, deducing therefrom
encouraging persuasions, that every new sin of the persecutors removed a
prop from their own power, making its overthrow more and more
inevitable.

While I was peering from the window in these reflections, I saw Quintin
Fullarton, the grandson of John Fullarton of Dykedivots, in the street,
and knowing that from the