magistrate whom God hath appointed, is God's
depute; both the throne and the judgment are the Lord's, when he judgeth
for God and according to his law; and a part of his office is to deliver
the poor oppressed out of the hand of the oppressor, and shed no
innocent blood, Jerem. xxii. 3, &c. And whereas the advocate hath been
hinting at the sinfulness of lying on any account; it is answered, that
not only lying is sinful, but also a pernicious speaking of the truth,
is a horrid sin before the Lord, when it tendeth to the shedding of
innocent blood; witness the case of Doeg, Psalm lii. compared with 2
Sam. xxii. 9. But what my lord advocate hath forged against me is false,
so that I am standing upon my former ground, _viz._ the preservation of
my own life, and the life of others, as far as lies in my power, the
which I am expressly commanded by the Lord of hosts."

Then the clerk's servant, being called, interrogated him in the torture,
in upwards of thirty questions, which were all in write, of which the
following are of the most importance.

Are you that Mr. James Mitchel who was excepted out of the king's grace
and favour?

_A._ I never committed any crime deserving to be excluded.

_Q._ Were you at Pentland?

_A._ No.

_Q._ Were you at Ayr, and did you join with the rebels there?

_A._ I never joined with any such.

_Q._ Where was you at the time of Pentland?

_A._ In Edinburgh.

_Q._ When did you know of their rising in arms?

_A._ When the rest of the city knew of it.

_Q._ Where did you meet with James Wallace?

_A._ I knew him not at that time.

_Q._ Did you go out of town with captain Arnot?

_A._ No.

The other questions were anent his going abroad, &c. He perceived that
they intended to catch him in a contradiction, or to find any who would
witness against him.--At the beginning of the torture he said, "My
lords, not knowing that I shall escape this torture with my life,
therefore, I beseech you to remember what Solomon saith, _He who sheweth
no mercy, shall have judgment without mercy_, &c.--And now, my lords, I
do freely, from my heart, forgive you, who are sitting judges upon the
bench, and the men who are appointed to be about this horrible piece of
work, and also those who are vitiating their eyes in beholding the same;
and I intreat that God may never lay it to the charge of any of you, as
I beg God may be pleased for Christ's sake to blot out my sins and
iniquities, and never to lay