thout tyrants, without
impostors (priests)."[288] The writings were probably seditious in their
tendency;[289] but the evidence that he circulated them was of the
flimsiest character.[290]

Unfortunately, Muir left the country, though in no clandestine manner,
while legal proceedings were pending. After a short stay in London he
proceeded to Paris, in order (as he said at his trial) to try to
persuade the French democrats to spare the life of Louis XVI. The
credibility of this statement is lessened by the fact that he arrived in
Paris only the evening before the King's execution and remained there
long after that tragedy.[291] A letter from a Scot in Paris, James
Smith, to a friend in Glasgow, which the postal authorities opened,
stated that the writer met Muir in a _cafe_ of the Palais Royal; that
Muir did not hear of his indictment till the evening of 8th February,
and would return to face his trial, though he was loth to leave France,
as he had made "valuable and dear connections." "Mr. Christie advised
me," adds the writer, "to make some little proficiency in the language
before I begin to think of beginning to do anything."[292] Now, as a
clique of Britons in Paris had not long before drunk the toast of "The
coming Convention of Great Britain and Ireland," Government naturally
connected the efforts of Muir with this republican propaganda. His next
doings increased this suspicion. He left France on an American ship
which landed him at Belfast; he stayed there a few days, and landed at
Stranraer on 31st July, only to be arrested, along with his books and
papers, and sent to Edinburgh.

The ensuing trial, held on 30th and 31st August, aroused intense
interest, owing to the eloquence of Muir and the unscrupulous zeal of
the Scottish authorities in ensuring his conviction. They packed the
jury with men who belonged to a loyal Association; and it is said that
the Lord Justice Clerk, McQueen of Braxfield, welcomed one of them with
the words: "Come awa', Maister Horner, come awa', and help us to hang
ane of thae daamed scoondrels." The trial itself bristled with
irregularities; and Muir, who rejected the proffered help of Erskine and
conducted his own defence, fastened on them so effectively, that at the
conclusion of his final speech the Court resounded with applause. All
was in vain. The jury found him guilty, whereupon the Court of
Justiciary pronounced sentence of transportation for fourteen
years.[293]

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