the prison could tell me what he was charged with.

Being invited to chapel he refused, saying, he expected to be visited by a gentleman of his own perswasion, which was that of the Kirk of Scotland. It was to little purpose at present, for me to urge to him at different times and with various arguments, that there is no essential difference between his profession and ours; he would by no means admit that opinion: But said, "there was great odds between his religion and mine;" and seemed strongly prejudiced in favour of his own, though not overcharged with the good fruits of any religion: This gave me frequent opportunity of reflecting on the manifold mischiefs of the unhappy divisions propagated and cherished amongst us, that tend to defeat the real design of all true religion.

However, after repeated applications to him, and finding himself disappointed of the visits he expected, he consented to come up to chapel, to hear (as he expressed it) the word of God; but behaved himself like one unaccustomed to our way of worship and not much pleased with it: Yet he gradually appeared to become more and more affected with the expounding and applying the scriptures of the day to the cases of the criminals.

Still his reserved temper and prejudices kept him at a distance, from communicating any thing material relating to himself, and even from acknowledging his guilt after conviction. The strong desire of concealing his flagrant shame, and the fatal lapse he had been drawn into, together with an obstinate opinion he entertained that it was unnecessary to acknowledge and confess it to man, confirmed him in this conduct. But how perverse and vain was this! when it appears on the trial, that he had confessed the fact to Mr. James Merrick< no role > , one of the witnesses, before his commitment; telling him that the forged bill was his own doing, without any accomplice, and begged for mercy.

It came out farther, that he was born in Scotland , as one said, in the Isle of Mull; but as he himself told me, in the Highlands , on or near the estate of the Duke of Argyle; that he was early entered in the army , and held a commission in the 42d or highland regiment, commanded by Lord John Murray< no role > , and served in America for some years, and was under the 30th year of his age.

His unskilful and clumsy mananagement of the forgery in which he was detected and found guilty, by misspelling the names, and the inconsistency of placing 200l. at the top, and writing one hundred pounds in the body of the bill, and other instances, prove that he was either unpractised, or very unfit for that fatal trade, by which no man, however dextrous, will ever gain wages that he can live by.

His close and averse behaviour, did not discourage my tendering him every assistance in my power; but when proper books were offered to assist him in his preparation, he resolutely continued to refuse them, saying, he had a sufficient number of good books, among which he named the Bible and the Whole Duty of Man, and that he expected farther assistance from his own minister.

This seems to be a kind of proof, that the chief prejudice of some who dissent from us, is not against our books and doctrines, which they use to their great benefit, but against our very persons and dress; which therefore bring us under great disadvantage in our applications to them, who have been taught to think that our sound forms of prayer and significant ceremonies, are no better than mere popery.

In his conversation with me, he denied the duty of confessing sins or offences to any man in any case whatsoever, and particularly in his own present circumstances; errors which I endeavoured to convince him of, from precepts and examples of scripture, the sense of divines, and the reason and justice of the thing: but in vain; he seemed to hold his own opinion still.

The morning after the death-warrant was sent down, he and his fellow-convict included in it, appeared more chearful and undismayed than could be expected; each of them was applied to, and reminded to stand this trying shock with a firmness and patience becoming true penitents; they both seemed to be much strengthened, thanking God for it, and hoping they should be farther enabled to