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of it as ye trow. And ye are a vain man, James, and many others, with your bits of paper and drops of blood! But when that day comes, there will be a bike of indulged, lukewarm miniſters from Holland, England, and Ireland, together with a bike of them at home, and ſome young things that know nothing; and they will all hyve together in a General Assembly; and the red hands with blood, and the black hands of defection, will be joined, and the hand given them by our Ministers; and ye will not ken who has been the persecutor, complier, or ſufferer; and your bits of paper and drops of blood will be ſhut to the door, and never a word more of them; and ye and the like of you, will get their backſide. He gave him another ſore clap upon the ſhoulder, ſaying, Keep mind of this, James Wilſon! for, as the Lord lives, it will ſurely come to pass. James Wilſon told me this, ſhortly thereafter, and repeated it again the first General Assembly, when he and I, and many others, ſaw the accomplishment of this, in every particular, to our great grief.
37 In the beginning of May, 1685, he came to the house of John Brown and Marion Weir, whom he married before he went to Ireland, where he ſtayed all night; and in the morning, when he took farewel, he came out at the door, ſaying to himſelf, Poor woman, a fearful morning! twice over: A dark miſty morning! The next morning, betwixt five and ſix, the ſaid John Brown, having gone about the worſhip of God in his family, was going with a ſpade in his hand, to make ready ſome peat-ground; the mist being very dark, he knew not until cruel and bloody Claverhouse compassed him with three troops of horse, and brought him to his house, and there examined him; who, though he was a man of a ſtammering ſpeech, yet answered him distinctly and ſolidly; which made Claverhouse to ask those whom he had taken to be his guides through the muirs, if ever they heard him preach? They answered, No, no, he was never a preacher. He ſaid, If he has never preached meikle, he has prayed in his time. He
