t persecution in his life on account of his religion. His
persecutors, who often pursued him as a beast of prey, at last seized
him, confined him a prisoner in Edinburgh Castle, immured him in a
dungeon on the Bass Rock, and sentenced him, along with sixty others,
to banishment in America, then a penal settlement. Chained together,
Peden and his companions were marched to Leith, and conveyed on board
a ship for London, from thence to be taken to Virginia. Seeing his
companions in bonds dejected, Peden shouted out to them, in presence
and hearing of their guard, "Fear not, brethren, the ship is not yet
built that will take us either to Virginia or any foreign plantation."
Uneasiness was felt on board the ship, in consequence of a report
being spread among the prisoners that thumbkins and other instruments
of torture were to be used to them as implements of punishment. Peden
assured his fellow-passengers that their fears were groundless, for,
said he, neither thumbkins nor bodkins would hurt them. A tedious
voyage of a fortnight brought them to London. When they were about to
be put on board the vessel that was to carry them to Virginia, the
captain of the foreign ship, discovering the character of those
intended to be banished, declared that no authority in the world would
compel him to go to sea with them. As another ship could not be
procured, the prisoners were set at liberty, as Peden predicted.
Fortunately for the discharged persons, they were befriended by Lord
Shaftesbury, an ancestor of the present Lord Shaftesbury, who, along
with other friends, provided for their immediate wants.

One morning, while Peden was at his devotions, a young girl fourteen
years old began to mock him. The good man, turning an eye of pity on
her, said, "Poor thing, thou laughest and mockest, but a sudden and
surprising judgment on thee will soon stay the laughter of many." This
was when he was in confinement on the Bass Rock. Shortly afterwards a
swift gust of wind swept her into the sea, where she was lost.

Alexander (this was his Christian name) Peden said to a brother and
sister during his last illness, "You will all be displeased at the
place where I shall be buried at last. I could have wished to lie in
the grave of my beloved Richard Cameron; but I shall not be allowed to
rest where you lay me, though my bones shall at last be glorified."

Peden foretold the early and violent death of the martyr John Brown.
Addressing Mrs. Brow