Page:Last publick sermon, being a faithful and free one, preached by Mr. Hugh Mackaile ... upon the Sabbath immediately preceeding that 8th of September 1662, the day affixed for the removing of the ministers of Edinburgh from their kirks.pdf/27

( 27 ) ſemblance to the State and Condition of the then Rulers of State and Church, that though he did make no Applica- tion, yet he was reputed to be guilty thereof. Whereupon, within a few Days thereafter, there was a Party of Horſemen ſent to the place where he then lived, to wit Kirkfield, now called the Goodtrees, near to Edinburgh, for to ſeize his Perſon, and make him Priſoner : But, upon almoſt no more than a Moment's Advertiſement, he eſcapes out of his Bed, and. Shifting only to another Chamber, was miraculouſly preſerved from the Search then uſed, tho' moſt diligent and accurate. For this Cauſe, he, be- ing neceſſitated to leave that Place, retired homeward to his Father's Houſe in the Town of Bothwell, in which Pariſh Mr. Matthew MacKaile his father was Miniſter, where having lurked a while, he went abroad, where he remained about three Years, and, after his Return home, he ſpent the Remainder of the Time in ſeveral Places, and with much Uncertainty. Yet, during all this Space, to the certain Knowledge and ſweet Remembrance of all that converſed with him, he was moſt ſeriouſly exerciſed in the Study of Piety and true Knowledge, wherein, as he greatly advanced above all his Equals, ſo, at Length, he became moſt eminent and exemplary. While he is thus living, and employed at his Father's Houſe, the late Troubles, ariſing in the Weſt, fall out ; and the News thereof having alarmed him, with the reſt of that Country, upon the 18th of November 1666, being the Sabbath, for ſuch Motives, and upon ſuch Conſiderations as he himſelf doth fully afterward declare, he joined himſelf to thoſe who roſe in theſe Parts, for the aſſiſting of that poor afflicted Party, as, in their Conſciences, by their Co- venant, they thought themſelves indiſpenſably obliged. When and where he joined with them, or what was his Part or Endeavours amongſt them, needs not to be re- membered ; only this is certain, that being of a thin Bo- C.2 dy