The prior then instituted proceedings against Straiton for the _crime of heresy_. Never had a council applied that name to a man’s method of paying his tithe. No matter; the word _heretic_ at that time inspired such terror that the stout-hearted gentleman began to give way; his pride was humbled, and, confessing his sins, he felt the need of a forgiving God. He sought out therefore all those who could tell him of the Gospel or could read it to him, for he could not read himself. Not far from his abode was Dun Castle, whose lord, John Erskine, provost of Montrose, a descendant of the earls of Mar, had attended several universities in Scotland and abroad, and had been converted to the evangelical faith. ‘God,’ says Knox, ‘had _miraculously_ enlightened him.’ His castle, in which the words of prophets and apostles were heard, was ever open to those who were athirst for truth; and thus the evangelical Christians of the neighborhood had frequent meetings there. Erskine detected the change which was taking place in the soul of his rude neighbor; he went to see him, conversed with him, and exhorted him to change his life. Straiton soon became a regular attendant at the meetings in the castle, ‘and he was,’ says Knox, ‘transformed as by a miracle.’[178] His nephew, the young baron of Lauriston, possessed a New Testament. Straiton frequently went to the castle to hear portions of the Gospels read. One day the uncle and his nephew went out together, wandered about in the neighborhood, and then retired into a lonely place to read the Gospels. The young laird chose the tenth chapter of St. Matthew. Straiton listened as attentively as if it were to himself that the Lord addressed the discourse which is there reported. When they came to this declaration of Jesus Christ, ‘Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven,’ Straiton, affected and startled, fell on his knees, stretched his hands upwards, and turned for a long time a humble and earnest gaze towards heaven, but without speaking the while; he appeared to be in an ecstasy.[179] At last, no longer able to restrain the feelings which crowded on him, he exclaimed--‘I have been sinful, O Lord, and thou wouldst be only just wert thou to withhold thy grace from me! Nevertheless, for the sake of thy mercy, suffer not the dread of pain or of death to lead me ever to deny thee or thy truth.’[180] Thenceforward he set himself to serve zealously the master whose mighty love he had felt. The world appeared to him like a vast sea, full of movement, on which men are ever rudely tossed until they have entered into the haven of the Gospel. The fisherman became a fisher of men. He exhorted his friends and acquaintances to seek God, and he replied to the priests with firmness. On one occasion, when they urged him to do some pious works which deliver from purgatory, he answered, ‘I know of no other purgatory than Christ’s passion and the tribulations of this life.’