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    The Scottish clergy were at that time eager in making inquisition for Lutherans ; and owing either to his having been in England , or to his having dropped sortie expressions respecting religion which were deemed too free , Craig fell under the suspicion of heresy , and was throwu into prison . The accusation was found to be groundless , and he was set at liberty . Bat although he was still attached to the Roman Catholic religion , the ignorance and bigotry of the clergy gave him such a disgust to his native country that he left it in 1537 , and having remained a short time in England , went to France , and from thence to Italy .

    At the recommendation of the celebrated ^ Cardinal Pole , he was admitted ^ among the Dominicans in the city of Bologna , and was soon raised ^ tr ^ an honourable employment in that body . In the library of the Inquisition ^ which was attached to the monastery , he found Calvin ' s Institutions . Being fond of books , he determined to read that work ; and the consequence was , that he became a complete convert to the reformed opinions . In the warmth of bis first impressions , he could not restrain himself from imparting the change

    of his sentiments to his associates , and he must have soon fallen a sacrifice to the vigilant guardians of the faith , had not the friendship of a father in the monastery saved him . The old man , who also was a native of Scotland , represented the danger to which he exposed himself by avowing such tenets in that place , and advised him , if he was fixed in his views , to retire immediately to some Protestant country . With this prudent advice he complied so far as

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    to procure his discharge from th « e monastery . On leaving the monastery of Bologna , Craig entered as tutor in the family of a neighbouring nobleman who had embraced the Protestant principles ; but he had not resided long in it when he was delated for heresy , seized by the familiars of thelnquisition , and

    carried to Rome * After being confined nine months in a noisome dungeon , he was brought to trial , and condemned to be burned , along with some others , on ; he 20 th of August , 1 & 59 * On the evening previous to their appointed execution , the reigning Pontiff , Paul IV . died ; and , according to an accustomed practice on such occasions , the prisons in Rome were all thrown open . Those who were eonfined for debt and other civil offences

    were liberated ; but heretics , after being allowed to go without the walls of their prison , were again . thrown into confinement . But a tumult having been excited that night in the city , Craig and his companions effected their escape , and took refuge in an inn at a t mall distance from Rome . They had not been long there when they were followed by a company of soldiers , sent to apprehend them . On entering the house , the captain looked steadfastly on Craig ' s countenance , and , taking him aside , asked him if he recollected of once relieving

    a poor wounded soldier in the vicinity of Bologna . Craig was in too great confusion to remember the circumstance . " But I recollect it" ( replied the captain ) , " and I am the man whom you relieved , and Providence has now put it in my power to return the kindness which you shewed to a distressed stranger . You ate at liberty ; your companion ? I must take along

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    456 Extracts from M'CrieU Life of Knd \

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1814, page 456, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2443/page/8/