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Unpublished Letters of Simon 12tii Lord Louat. 381
in it, the aigue is almost gone, but this severe storm that never
had an example in history confines me to this room a perfect
prisoner these two months past, so that T must have a very good
and liealthful constitution to have resisted such a closs confinement
and continuall eating and drinking and sitting \ip without
any exorcise, but T hope CJod in his mercy will soon delivei- us
from this stoim, and then I can go abroad and take a little exercise,
which I hope will restore me into perfect health and strength
that I may be fit to do some service to my friends and my Countrey,
wliich I do not despair of."
In the same letter is a description of a member of another
learned profession. It appears there was a lawyer by name Tom
Brodie in Edinburgh at that time, of whom Lovat writes in these
somewhat disrespectful terms :
"I have such experience of Tom Brodic's, sucli a greedy,
deceitful, treacherous knave tliat I cannot in duty and honour but
put you on your guard against him, for after my giving him
liberally my money and my gold for about fourteen or fifteen years,
and using him rather like a brother than an ordinary lawyer, yet
the deceitful knave sold me this last year to my adverse party
by which I have been wronged above £3000 str. He gave up my
papers to my adverse party, which gave a pretext to the base and
villainous arbiters to sign a decree of a £1000 str. against me, to
be paid to my adverse ])arty, who, sincerely and truly before God
I could declare it if it was my last word, did rob me, I mean
Pliopachy, of above £4000 of the furniture of my house, and the
rents of my Estate, and tho' he was not worth five pound on earth
but what he rob'd me of (for he was downright a beggar when I
came to Scotland) yet I am decreed to pay him £1000 str. by
false accounts that he made up against me, but the truth of the
matter is that Thomas Brodie beii-ay'd me for getting the half or
the third of the spoil to himself. Your cousin Balladie, who was
here during the transactions of that villainous decree, knows that
affixir perfectly, for he took great pains in it. I beg your pardon
for troubling you with an account of it, but my design is to prevent
your being cheated and abused by Tom Brodie, who is certainly
the most dangerous villain that ever went into the Parliament
house,"
Those who are acquainted with Lovat's style, and the strong
language in \vhich he inveighs against all whom he fancies have
injured him, will not perhaps judge too harshly of Tom Brodie.
In another letter Lo^at asks Macleod to send him some news-