THE Tragical History OF THE STUARTS.

IN the Reign of Duncane, King of Scotland, who came to the Posses­sion of the Scotish Crown upon the decease of his Uncle Milcolm in the Year 1040. while one Bancho, Thane of Lochquaber (from whom the Stuarts descen­ded) was gathering the King's Revenues, within the bounds of his own Jurisdiction, and withal somewhat severely punishing such as he found to be notorious Offenders; it caused a Mutiny in the Country, and so a Conspiracy was formed against Bancho, by a parcel of Riotous and Lawless Fel­lows, who first spoil'd his Goods, and then assaulted his Person, giving him [Page 4] many dangerous Wounds, so that he had much ado to escape with his Life: But assoon as he found himself a little reco­ver'd, and in a condition to travel, he determined to repair to the Court, in order to require Satisfaction for the Da­mages he had sustained; where, after he had made Complaint to the King of the same; and of the Indignities that had been offer'd to him, he at length pre­vail'd to have an Herald sent to the Of­fenders, to cite them to make their per­sonal Appearance, for to answer to such Matters as should be laid to their Charge: But they, instead of complying with the Summons, entertain'd the Messenger first with all manner of Reproaches; and when they had as despitefully used him, both in Words and Actions, as they could, slew him out-right; and so entring into a Confederacy with their Friends and Kinsfolks, as expecting to be call'd to a severe Account by an Armed Power from the King, they chose one Mackdo­nald for their Captain, who readily enough embraced the Command, and shortly af­ter routed some Troops, sent against them, under the Conduct of a Nobleman, whom they took Prisoner, and afterwards slew, with which Success they were not a little elated and flushed.

[Page 5]Hereupon the King call'd a Council, to consult what to do, among whom, Mack­beth (so famed upon the Stage) was one; who exclaiming much against the Precariousness of the Government, and the mistaken Lenity of the King towards notorious Offenders, did notwithstand­ing promise, that if they were pleased to leave that Affair to his and Bancho's Ma­nagement, he did not doubt but in a very short time to give a good account of the Rebels: Hereupon he and Ban­cho were joyn'd in Commission to go against them, and in some time set out with a Body of Men towards Lochquaber; The fame of whose Approach struck the Enemy with such a panick Fear, that they dispersed in great Numbers, leaving their Captain Mackdonald almost desti­tute, who notwithstanding with the small Remains he had left with him, adventu­rously gave them Battle; but being rout­ed, he fled for Refuge to an adjacent Castle; and finding himself environn'd by his Enemies on all sides, and no way left for his Escape, he first slew his Wife and Children, and then laid violent Hands up­on himself, to prevent, as he dreaded, a severer Punishment.

This Rebellion being thus happily sup­prest by the good Conduct and Manag­ment of Mackbeth and Bancho, another more dangerous Storm did upon the [Page 6] Neck of it, threaten Scotland; for Sweno, King of Norway, landed at Fife, with a puissant Army, designing no less than to make an entire Conquest of the King­dom of Scotland: Duncane, to obviate as much as might be the Intentions of the Enemy, raises Forces with utmost Dili­gence, and next to himself entrusted the Command of them with the two afore­said Chieftains, Mackbeth and Bancho; who had but a little while before done him sig­nal Service against his Rebellious Subjects. Near Calrose the two Armies engaged, and fought for a considerable time, with in­credible obstinacy, but at last the Danes prevailed, and the Scots were totally rout­ed, and Duncane fled to the Castle of Bertha, which Sweno laid close siege to forthwith: Mackbeth in the mean time rallies and raises more Forces, to whom the King, by the Advice of Bancho, sent word, that he should not march to his Relief till he had further Orders: The King in the interim entertains a feigned Treaty of Surrender with Sweno, and to elude the Matter yet further, sent his Army, as a Donative, some Provisions of Ale and Bread out of the Castle, but had first mixt both with the Juice of Banewort, a noxious Herb; which did so intoxicate the Danish Soldiers, who feasted greedily thereon, that they generally fell all fast asleep; upon which Mackbeth had [Page 7] Orders sent him to march up without delay, and fall upon them, which he did with that success, that the whole Army was slain, save the King, and about ten Men more, who with great difficulty fled to their Ships. But the Rejoycings made for this Victory were scarce cold, when a­nother Danish Army, sent by Canutus, to the assistance of Sweno, landed at King­corn, which were also encountred by Mackbeth and Bancho, and utterly routed.

Some time after this, as Buchanan, Boe­thius, and other Scotch Writers relate, tho' in a different manner, As Mackbeth and Bancho, without any other Company, were agoing to a place called Fores, where the King then resided; it fortuned that they met three Women upon the Road of a very strange Aspect and Habit; one of them saluted Mackbeth, Thane of Angus, another of Murrey, and the third King, of Scotland; with which kind of Salutation they were both very much surpriz'd, and Bancho said to the Women, why so unkind to me, as to bestow nothing upon me, when you have assigned to my Companion not only high Preferments, but even the Kingdom of Scotland: Nay, but reply'd the first of them, we have greater Favours in store for thee; he shall reign indeed but with an un­happy end, and leave none of his Posterity to inherit the Crown; but of thee shall those be [Page 8] born who shall govern the Scotch Nation by a long Succession of continued descent: And this I take to be the Ground of Dr. Heylin's saying in his Scotia, that it was strangely foretold this Bancho, above three hundred Years before it began to be ful­fill'd; that he indeed should not be King, but that out of his Loyns should come a Race of Kings, that should for ever rule Scotland.

This Apparition, for so it was after­wards interpreted, made at first no great Impressions on the Spirits, either of the one or the other, so as that they made no other use of it than to jear one another ever and anon therewith; Bancho fre­quently calling Mackbeth, by way of ri­dicule, King of Scotland, and the other as often entertaining him with the Appella­tion of Father of many Kings; till such time, which happened not long after, that the Thane of one of the foresaid places being condemned and executed for Trea­son, Mackbeth was bountifully invested by the King in all his Lands, Livings and Offices; which being interpreted by him as a favourable Presage, and as it were a Praeludium towards the Accomplishment of the foresaid Prediction concerning him, it raised his Hopes mightily; and he be­gins to set all his Wits on work, and to imploy all his Engines, among whom Ban­cho was chief, who gave him all the Assi­stance [Page 9] he could in his bloody Designs, for to attain to the Crown; which not long after, by a barbarous Parricide (for a good King is Father of his Country) he accomplish'd, having slain the King at Inverness, or (as others write) at Botgos­vane, in the sixth Year of his Reign, and so was forthwith crowned at Scone.

Mackbeth, to ingratiate himself with the People, without which, no Government, tho' never so just, can long subsist, gets several good and wholsome Laws enacted for the publick Weal; But this was an effect rather of Policy, than any natural Disposition and good Genius in him, as did afterwards appear; and as Tyrants are always uneasie, he was never without dreadful Apprehensions that he should be served the same sawce himself, as he had done by his Predecessor, and the Predicti­on foremention'd did not a little con­tribute thereunto, especially that part of it that referr'd to the posterity of Bancho's attaining in time to the possession of the Diadem. And as nothing is more terrible to a wicked Usurper than the Thoughts of a Successor, especially without his own Line; former Confederacies, for the attain­ment of the Supream Power, being now disregarded, and quite effaced with the Cares to secure it; for indeed there is but little Faithfulness to be expected from Associates in Villany, be their mu­tual [Page 10] Engagements never so solemn; he makes it his whole business to cut off Ban­cho, who had been so instrumental to ad­vance him (the very Practice of Richard the III toward Henry Stafford, Duke of Buck­ingham) and therefore, in order to put his projected Design in execution, he invites him, together with his Son Fleance, to a supper, which he had prepared for them. They suspecting no Treachery in the mat­ter, made no scruple to come, and feasted merrily; and when all was over, prepared to return to their own Lodgings, but they were on their way thither, without the Pallace-Gates, to prevent the suspition of the King's having any Hand in it, as­saulted by several Russians, whom he had hired for that purpose, who slew the Fa­ther outright; But the Son, thro' the fa­vour of the dark Night, happily escaped; and being sensible of the danger he was in if he stay'd in Scotland, from the Jea­lousie and Malice of Mackbeth, who, he was now fully satisfied, had contrived the Murder of his Father, tho' the other en­deavour'd all he could to suppress it, and make appear it was only a matter of chance, he fled into Wales.

He had not been there long, but that he grew into great Favour and Esteem with Trahern, Prince of that part of the Country, call'd Northwales, but into far greater Intimacy, and even to an unlaw­ful [Page 11] Familiarity with his Daughter, so as that she was got with Child by him; which at length coming to the Ears of her Fa­ther, he was so enraged with the Dis­honour done to his Family by this Fugi­tive, and so sensibly touch'd with his Vio­lation of the Rules of Hospitality, that no­thing less would satisfie him than his Blood, and so he slew him. The Daugh­ter he also severely used, who was at last brought to Bed of a Son, whom they named Walter; who, tho' but meanly Educated by his Grandfather's Com­mandment, did notwithstanding prove to be a Person of high Resolution, and expert in Business.

This Walter having on a time happen'd to fall out with one of his Companions, occasion'd chiefly by the other's reproach­ing of him, with his illegitimacy, and cal­ling him Bastard; he became so enraged thereat, that he flew upon him, and slew him outright: But bethinking himself im­mediately of what he had done, with the great danger he was in, if he stay'd any longer in the Country, he resolv'd to flee, and make the best of his way for Scotland, his Father's native Country; where he had not long arrived, but he happen'd in­to the Company of some English Gentle­men, come thither to attend Queen Mar­garet, Wife to Milcolm, King of Scotland, and Sister to Edgar Atheline, Kinsman, and [Page 12] (right Heir to Edward the Confessor) and behaved himself so orderly, and with such a winning Conversation, that he be­came highly esteem'd of them. This by degrees made way for him to attain the King's favour, who entertain'd so good an Opinion of him, that when in some time after, Tumults and some popular Disorders had happen'd in the parts a­bout Galloway, and the adjacent Islands, he thought fit to entrust him with the Care of that Affair; and Walter was so successful in his Enterprize, that he quick­ly suppress'd the Disorders, slew the Cap­tain and Ringleaders of those Commoti­ons, and reduced that part of the Coun­try into a very good Decorum and Order.

I do not find the King ever restor'd him to the Inheritance of his Grandfa­ther Bancho, and the Thaneship of Loch­quaber; but however it was, he was so far satisfied with his Conduct, and so fully sensible of the Service he had done him, that he bestowed a new Dignity upon him, which was that of Steward of Scotland. This was an English term, and the English frequenting that Kingdom so much at that time, by reason of their Concourse to, and Attendance upon Queen Margaret, together with some other concurring Ac­cidents, might be the occasion of the In­troduction of it. It was no doubt a con­siderable power he was entrusted with, [Page 13] by virtue of this new Office, but I do not think it much different, as to the na­ture of it, but only in respect to its ex­tent, from that of Thane; which Term and Office annext to it, because so often men­tion'd already, and may perhaps more hereafter, I shall endeavour a little to ex­plicate, and I hope the Reader will think it no impertinent Digression.

Thane therefore is derived by some from the old Saxon word Thegn, which cometh of Thenian, i. e. Ministrare alicui, and made to signifie sometime a Nobleman, sometime a Freeman; another while a Magistrate, and sometime an Officer or Minister; thus Mr. Lambert, in his Expo­sition of Saxon Words, interprets it; Vavasour's Explication of it, is much to the same purpose; but Skene de verborum Significatione, saith, that it is the name of a Dignity, and appears to be equal with the Son of an Earl; and that Thanus was a Freeholder, holding his Lands of the King; hence Thanagium Regis signified a certain part of the King's, or property, whereof the Rule and Government appertain [...]d to him, who therefore is called Thane; he is o­pinion it is originally a Dutch word, deduced from Teiner, a Servant, and Tein [...] to serve, and therefore may signifie a Servant; as an Ʋnderthane does an inferiour Thane or Subject; he further adds, that when a Person was accused of [Page 14] Theft, but not in the Fang, (that is, as we say, with the manner of it) there being no suffi­cient proof brought against him, he was oblig'd to purge himself by the Oath of seven and twenty Men, and of three Thanes, and so much shall suffice concerning the name and office of Thane. To return therefore to our designed story, you are first to note by way of Recapitulation the bloody Foun­dation that has been laid here, Bancho the Grandfather conspiring with Mackbeth to imbrue his Hands in the innocent Blood of Duncane, his lawful and rightful Prince, and that not long done, when the same fate attended himself, and that by the contrivance of his own bloody Associate, as a just reward of his Treason: Fleance the Son, upon this, forced to flee his na­tive Country; there ungratefully defiling that Prince his Daughter, who cherished him in his Bosom, but now as a Monster of Ingratitude he rid his Country and the Earth of him at the same time, by a violent and tragical Death; and lastly, Walter the Grandson, but base born, was forced to the same shift, as his Father be­fore him, tho' with a better Fate; the one being under a necessity to forsake his native soil, to avoid being barbarously as well as injuriously murder'd by a jealous-headed Tyrant, but the other to shun the Justice of his Country, that cried out for Vengeance against him for shedding of Blood.

[Page 15] Walter being vested in the high Office aforesaid, left his Title and Dignity for a sirname to his Family ever after, and from hence forward we find but little mention either of him, or his Posterity, till the contest between the Bruce's and Baliol's about the Crown of Scotland, which was above Two Hundred Years af­ter; We shall therefore only endeavour to give you the Genealogy, down to the said time, that our History may ap­pear to be all of a piece, and void of Breaks as much as may be. Walter there­fore had a Son, named Alane, who, as they say, follow'd Godfrey of Bullogn into the Holy Land, in the Year 1099. Ale­xander was his Son, who begat Walter Stuart; he had Issue Alexander, whose Son was John, the Father of Walter Stuart, that marry'd the Daughter of King Robert Bruce, and begat on her Robert Stuart, call'd in the Scotch Chronology Robert the second King of Scotland, but he was the first Stuart that was advanced to the Throne of that Kingdom. But before we can fairly come to give you an exact Account hereof, it will be necessary to premise a short Scheme of the Contests between the said Baliol and Bruce, because somewhat in­terwoven with the Affair of this Fa­mily.

[Page 16]Upon the disastrous death of Alexan­der the Third, who broke his Neck as he was gallopping his Horse at Kingcorn, over the West-clift of the place near the Sea-side, and left no Issue, but had only a Grand-child by his Daughter in Norway, very young, and who died soon after. Scot­land fell under an Interregnum for the space of six Years and nine Months, as Bucha­nan computes it; for so long it was be­tween the Death of Alexander, and the declaring of John Baliol, King of Scotland; and in the mean time you may be sure there wanted not Pretensions to the Crown, and the case briefly was thus: William, King of Scotland, had a Brother, named David, Earl of Huntington, and great Uncle to this Alexander the III. which David had three Daughters; Margaret marry'd to Allan, Lord of Gallaway, Isabel to Robert Bruce, Lord Annadale and Cleveland, and Adda to Henry Hastings, Earl of Huntington; now Al­lane begat on his Wife Margaret a Daughter, named Dornadilla, marry'd in process of time to John Baliol, after King of Scot­land, and two other Daughters; Bruce by his Wife Isabel had Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, (as having married the Inheri­trix thereof;) but as for Huntington he laid no manner of Claim. Now the question was whether Baliol in right of the eldest Daughter, or Robert Bruce, be­ing descended of the second but a Male, [Page 17] should have the Crown, he being in the same Degree, and of the more worthy Sex. The Controversie was tossed up and down by the Governors and Nobles of the Kingdom for a long time; but at last, upon serious deliberation, it was a­greed to refer the whole matter to the decision of Edward the I. King of En­gland, which he was not a little glad of▪ For resolving to fish in these troubled Waters he stirs up eight Competitors more, that he might further puzzle the Cause, and at length with twenty four Councellors, half Scots, half English, and a great many Lawyers so handled the Business, that after a great many cunning delays he secretly tampers with Bruce, (who was then conceiv'd to have the bet­ter Right of the Business) that if he would acknowledge to hold the Crown of him, he would adjudge it in favour of him. But he generously answering, That he va­lued a Crown at a less rate, than for the wearing of the same, to put his Country un­der a Foreign Yoke. Edward turns about, and makes the same motion to Baliol, who did not stick to accept of it.

Baliol having thus gotten a Crown, as unhappily kept it; for he was no sooner invested with it, and done Homage to King Edward, according to Agreement, but the Aberthenys having slain Mackduff, Earl of Fife, he not only pardon'd them [Page 18] the Fact, but gave them a piece of Land that was in Controversie between them: Whereupon Mucduff's Brother be­ing enraged, makes a Complaint of him to King Edward, who sent for him, used him so, that he made him rise from his Seat at Parliament, and go to the Bar, and answer for himself. He hereupon was so enraged at this manner of Usage, that when King Edward sent to him for Assistance against the French, he absolute­ly refused it, and proceeded so far as to renounce his Homage to him: This incensed King Edward to the quick, and so with an armed Power he hastens to Berwick, where he routed the Scots, took and kill'd to the number of Seven Thousand of them; among them, most of the Nobility of Fife and Lowthian, and some time after gave them also a great Overthrow at Dunbar, which oc­casion'd the immediate surrender of the Castle of the said place into his Hands. After this he marches to Mon­tross, where Baliol was brought to re­sign up both himself and his Crown to King Edward, all the Scotch Nobility at the same time doing him Homage: The Consequence whereof was that, Baliol was sent Prisoner to London, and from thence, after a Years detention, into France. But while Edward was possess'd of all Scotland, one William Wallace arose; [Page 19] who, tho' but a private Man, bestirred himself in the publick Calamity of his Country, and gave the English several notable Foyls; This brought King Ed­ward into Scotland again with an Army, and falling upon Wallace, routs him (who was overcome with Emulation and En­vy from his Countrymen, as well as power from the Enemy) upon which he laid by his Command, and never acted after but by slight Incursions; but the English Army after this being beaten at Roslin, Edward comes in again, and takes Sterling, and makes them all render him Homage.

Robert Bruce, Son to the foresaid Bruce, that contested with Baliol for the Crown, was in King Edward's Court, and him the King had often promised to put in possession of the Crown; But Bruce find­ing at last that all his promises were il­lusory, and nothing but smoak; he enters into a Confederacy with John Cummin, sirnamed the Red, how he might get the Kingdom; but being basely betray'd by him to King Edward, he had much ado to make his escape; and when he was got into Scotland, the first thing he did was to stab Cummin at Drum [...]reis, and then got himself Crown'd King at Scone: Never did any Man come with greater disadvantage to the possession of a Crown, or underwent greater Hard­ships [Page 20] for the sake of it. He was beaten over and over by King Edward's Troops, forced to flee to the Highlands with one Companion or two, and to lurk in the Mountains in great misery, as if he had been rather a Beast of prey than a rati­onal Creature. And while he was in this miserable State, it is storied of him by Fourdon, That being in a Morning, ly­ing down on his Bed, in a little Cottage, whither he was glad to retire, and make the same his Pallace; he espies a Spider striving to climb up into her Web, which she had spun to the roof of the House; but failing of her purpose the first time, she attempts it the second and third time, and so on to the sixth and last, wherein she accomplishes it, and gets in; the King, who (as well as his Companion) had all the while view'd the Action, said; Now let's get up, and hasten to the Lowlands, to try our Fortunes once more; we have at­tempted it in five rencounters already, and fail'd, but in the sixth we shall prevail: and so having gather'd some Force together, he advanced towards Sterling, where he gave Edward the II. who was then King of England, such a Defeat, as Scotland ne­ver gave the like to our Nation, and so continued War with various Fortune with Edward the III. till at last Age and Le­prosie brought him to his Grave. But some time before his Death he got the [Page 21] Crown settled upon his Son David, then a Child, and for want of his having Is­sue, upon Robert Stuart, his Sister's Son, and this by Act of Parliament, and the No­bles sware to it accordingly.

His Son David, of between eight and nine Years old, inherited that which he had with so much Difficulty and Dan­ger obtain'd, and wisdom kept. He was in his Minority govern'd by Thomas Randolf, Earl of Murrey, whose severity in punish­ing was no less dreaded than his Va­lour had been honoured; but he soon after dying of Poyson, and Edward Ba­liol, the Son of John, coming with a Fleet, and being strengthned with the assistance of the English, and some Rob­bers; the Governor, the Earl of Mar, was put to the Rout▪ so that Baliol makes himself King, and David was glad to retire into France: Amidst these Parties (Edward the III. backing of Baliol) Scot­land was pitifully torn, and the Bruces in a manner extinguished; till Robert Stuart, afterward King of Scotland, with the Men of Argyle, and his own Friends and Family, began to renew the claim; and brought the Matter into a War again, which was carry'd on by Andrew Mur­ray, the Governor, and afterward by him­self; so that David, after nine Years Ex­ile, adventured to return, where, ma­king frequent Incursions, he did at length [Page 20] [...] [Page 21] [...] [Page 22] in the fourth year after his Return, march into England, and in the Bishop­rick of Durham was routed, and fled to an obscure Bridge, shewed by the In­habitants to this day, where he was ta­ken Prisoner by John Copeland, and con­tinued so for the space of eleven Years. Soon after his Releasment and Return home, he calls a Parliament, wherein he enacted several Laws for the punishment of such as had fled from him at the Battle of Durham, and more particularly level­ling at Robert Stuart, as being one of them, who had been the Cause of that great Overthrow. He got that Act, passed in his Father's time, whereby the Crown was appointed, for want of Issue of his Body, lawfully begotten, to descend to the said Robert Stuart, to be repeal'd; and John Southerland, Son to Jane, his youngest Si­ster, made Heir apparent in his stead; and the Nobility swore to the observance of the said Law. This made the Earl of Southerland so confident of the matter, that he gave almost all his Lands away among his Friends and Acquaintance; But alas, he was wretchedly mistaken, for his Son being afterwards one of those, sent as Hostages into England, for the se­curity of the payment of King David's Ransom, he died there of the Plague; and Robert Stuart attain'd the King's Favour again, and succeeded as Heir to the Crown, [Page 23] being the first of the Name of the Stu­arts that ever sway'd a Scepter.

But things did not go on so smoothly with Robert Stuart upon the Death of Southerland, his Competitor first,Robert Stu­art, by the Name of Robert II. tho' the first of the Stuarts, was crow­ned King of Scot­land, Mar. 25. Anno Dom. 1370 and of King David afterward; but that he met with another Rub in his way from Willi­am, Earl of Dowglas; who, when the Lords were assembled at Lithguo about the Suc­cession, came thither with a great Power; and urged, he ought to be preferr'd be­fore Stuart, as being descended from the Baliols and Cummins. But finding at length that his own Friends, and par­ticularly the Earls of March and Mur­ray, his Brethren, with the Lord Erskein, who all three were in great power, as be­ing Governors, one of Dunbritton, ano­ther of Sterling, and the third of Edinburg, opposed him; he thought it most ad­visable to desist from his Claim: And so Robert Stuart was Crown'd at Scone on Lady-day, in the Year 1370. being the 47th. Year of his Age. But, that Dow­glas might be a little soothed up under his present Disappointment, and kept from disturbing the common Tranquillity, the King bestows Euphemia, his eldest Daugh­ter, in Marriage, upon him. Whether it were thro' an advanced Age, or Sloth, we find he did but little since his Acces­sion to the Crown, but his Lieutenants [Page 24] and the English were perpetually in acti­on during the course of his Reign, which was according to Buchanan nineteen Years, and four and twenty Days. And tho' it's true, we do not find his Death to have been violent, or any ways accelerated by Grief of Heart, but natural in an old age, having lived seventy-four Years; yet surely he laid the Foundation for the many Parricides, Fratricides, and other dreadful Calamities that befel his Posteri­ty in a very great measure, by preferring his Illegitimate Children by Elizabeth Moor, his Concubine, before those he had lawfully begotten on Euphemia Ross, his Wife: And the Case was briefly thus. At the time of his attaining the Crown, the foresaid Euphemia, Daughter to Hugh, Earl of Ross, was his lawful Wife, by whom he had two Sons, Walter, afterward crea­ted Earl of Atholl, and David, Earl of Strathern; but before he was married he kept one Elizabeth Mure, (for so the Scotch write the Name) as his Concubine, and had by her three Sons, John, Earl of Carrick; Robert, Earl of Ment [...]ith and Fife; and Alexander, Earl of Buchan, with several Daughters: Now Queen Euphe­mia departed this Life three Years after her Husband became King, who forth­with marry'd Elizabeth Mure, his old Pa­ramour, either to legitimate the Chil­dren he had by her (which it seems was [Page 25] the manner in those days) or else for old acquaintance; her Husband Gifford (for you must know he had got her matched to cover her shame) dying, about the same time, as the Queen had done. This step drew on another, and there was no stop­ing now, but the Children formerly be­gotten on this Woman in Adultery must have the Crown entailed upon them by Parliament, in prejudice to the other two, who by any thing that appears in History, were finer Gentlemen and fitter, as they had a juster Claim to govern, then either of these. I know the Lord Viscount Tar­bert in a late Pamphlet, has taken upon him to vindicate the Legitimacy of Moor's Children, against all the Authority of the Scotch Historians, who lived at or near those times, and ever since; who could not be ignorant of so material a thing as this, and to this end he Cites several Re­cords. It's not my business to answer his allegations, but I am sure the Records would never have named John that after­wards succeeded, Tanquam haeres, if he had been true and undoubted Heir: And so I leave any one to judge, if the Records do not thereby make much more against his Legitimacy than it does for it; But right or wrong the Sluts Will must be gra­tified, and so John succeeds his Father in the Scottish Kingdom, but not by the name of John, for that forsooth was omi­nous, [Page 26] for John King of France was a Pri­soner in England, but by the name of Robert: It's true there is no great matter in the thing it self, either one way or other; for an Alias, or a double name cannot prejudice an honest and vertuous Man, and when Judge Catiline took exception at one in this respect; saying, that no honest Man had a double name, and came in with an Alias; the party asked him, what ex­ception his Lordship could take to Jesus Christ, Alias, Jesus of Nazareth.

Robert III. Alias, John Stuart, be­gan his Reign, An. Dom. 1390.The Father was scarce well cold in his Grave, or the Son warm in his Throne, but his Progeny begot by him in the heat of his Blood, began in their Stati­ons to act their Tragical part. This King in his Fathers life-time had the misfor­tune to be kicked on the Leg by an Horse of Sir James Douglass of Dalkeith, and so lamed his Body, as he was lame in his Intellectuals, being a dull stupid Man and unfit to Govern; insomuch that he had but the name of King, the whole Admini­stration being lodged in his Brother Ro­bert, Earl of Fife, who did what he pleas­ed with him and his, as you'll see by and by: Alexander the youngest brother and Earl of Buchan, a Man of a Fierce Nature, could not long contain it, but he begins to disturb the Government of his Bre­thren, upon a slight displeasure conceived [Page 27] against the Bishop of Murray; and seeing he could find no opportunity to kill him, he revengfully sets fire to the Cathedral Church, which was the stateliest Pile of Building in all the North of Scotland. A Son he had, whose name was Duncane or Dunach, ten times more profligate, if it were possible than himself, and guilty of the basest and most degenerous actions. He upon the death of his Grand-father lets the Reins loose, and supposing now there was room for Rapine and Villany, Heads a strong band of Thiefs, and comes down to the Country of Angus, spoils and ra­vages the Country, as if he had been a professed Enemy; and being elevated by some petty success they had against Wal­ter Ogilby, and Walter Lichton who oppo­sed them; they proceeded to perpetrate greater Villanies than before, till at last being dispersed by the Earl of Crawford, many of them were persued and slain, and the rest taken and suffered condign Punishment.

King Robert, had now Governed by his Governour, for the space of Light Years, when a Parliament was held at Perth; wherein to manifest his Favour, he made his Eldest Son David, who was then Eighteen Years of Age, Duke of Rothsay, and his Brother the Governour, Duke of Albany; Virgin Titles, that till this time had been unknown in Scotland, saith Bu­chanan, [Page 28] and which boded no good success to the Masters of them, but generally proved very ominous. About some three years after dyed Queen Annabella, and Walter Tralie Archbishop of St. Andrew's, the one while he lived keeping up the Ec­clesiastical Discipline in the Church, and the other the Dignity of the Court, so that the death of two such useful and Il­lustrious Persons ushered in great Cala­mities in the Land; and such a Tragedy as can sca [...]ce be met with in the Records of Time. The Queen in her life-time had had a particular eye over, and care of the Education of her Son David, Duke of Rothsay, and by a severe Discipline re­strained his boisterous and untoward na­ture in a great measure; But now the check was taken off, he gave himself over to all manner of licentiousness. His Fa­thers indulgence to him proved an incita­tive to his Lust, and lack of Authority despoiled him of that Reverence that should have been paid unto him▪ and made his admonitions of none effect; So that at last he grew to that height of out­rageousness and impiety, that laying aside all manner of fear and shame, he made it his business to defile mens Wives, d [...] ­flower Virgins, Nuns and all other kind of Women; and where he found oppo­sition, he made use of Force and Violence. These Tragedies could not go long un­discovered, [Page 29] and therefore several com­plaints were prefered against him to his Father; who at last perceiving it beyond his power to restrain those exorbitant Courses, and that such violations would unavoidably bring both Father and Son to utmost Contempt, and might have a very bad Consequence to attend them; he Writes to his Brother the Governour, and now Duke of Albany, to take the young Man into his own governance and keeping, till such time and in expectation he should be reclaimed and brought to a better tem­per. This was that which the Governour for a long time had lacked, as thinking if he were once taken out of the way, his passage to the Crown might in time be made smooth and easie (and therefore leaves no stone unturned to get him into his bloody Clutches) at last he contrived the matter so, that he seized him upon the Road near St. Andrew's, and conveyed him to the Castle of the said place, which he had taken into his own hands upon the death of the Bishop a little before, under pretence of securing of it; and in a short time after removed him thence, into his own Castle of Falkland, making him there a close Prisoner: And now resolved he was to be rid of him, and he could think of no method more expedient to effect his devilish design than by starving of him; But that life which the barbarous cruelty [Page 30] of the Unkle had destined for a most mi­serable death, the compassion of two young Women prolonged for a time: One of them was daughter to the Go­vernour of the Castle, and who had the charge of the young Duke, who as often as she had an opportunity to go into the Gardens adjacent to the Castle, did put into him some oaten Cake folded up in a Vail which she carelesly wore on her head to keep off the Sun, through a small chink rather than a Window: The other was a poor Nurse, who through a long Read fed him with the Milk from her own Breasts. When the young Man's Punish­ment as well as his Life had by this hard shift been for some days prolonged, which rather served for the increasing than allaying of his hunger; the Women were at last discovered by the Spies they had every where about them, and were both villanously put to death, the Father shew­ing as much unhumane cruelty towards his daughter, as she had shewn mercy to his Royal Prisoner, bitterly cursing her per­fidy (as he called it) as endeavouring thereby to shew himself faithful to a faithless Brother, Unkle and Governour. The young Man being thus deprived of all humane relief, was constrain'd through the violence of hunger, not only to eat all such filth as he could find within his Prison, but at last to set upon his own [Page 31] flesh, and to gnaw off his own Fingers, and so ended his wretched life, and died, as I may say a double Death: This bar­barous act needs no Comment, it bespeaks Villany to the height in every part of it.

Some time elapsed before this dreadful news of the Prince's death came to the Ears of the King, none adventuring to be the sad Messenger unto him, of that which almost all knew off; but when he was ad­vertised of it, and had also some secret intimations given him, his Brother had had a deep, if not the sole hand in it (for none durst accuse so great a Man openly) he grew very sad and melancholy there­upon; and the rather, in that he had not power to take Vengeance upon him, for the perpetrating of so barbarous a deed, and for doing him so unretrievable an in­jury: However to make some semblance of Kingly Authority, he sends for the Duke his Brother to come to him, at least­wise to expostulate with him about the fact. The Duke who knew the purport of the message as well as himself, frames a fair and specious story to excuse himself, as tho he were as innocent of the fact as the Child Unborn; And for a farther proof of it, urges his care to seek out the Per­petrators of that horrid deed, and that he had now at length made so far a progress in the matter; that he did not doubt but [Page 32] if the King would be pleased to come to Edenburgh, he should be able to bring in all the Offenders. The King who was then at a place called Bute, where for the most part he ever resided, tho he was very unfit to travel upon many accounts, and especially by reason of a tedious fit of sickness he had laboured under; yet so great and eager a desire he had to see his Son's death punished, that he made a hard shift to get in a Chariot into Edenburgh. When he was come thither, the Gover­nour convenes the Council, and orders the parties accused to be brought before them the King himself being also present. The Accusers, as the Duke (who was ra­ther the guilty person, had before contri­ved it) stoutly charge them with the fact. The King after he had imprecated Ven­geance from Heaven, and the most dread­ful Curses upon them and their Posterity, who had perpetrated so horrid an act, being over-prest with sorrow and infir­firmity of Body, returns to Bute, from whence he came. The Duke that he might colour the matter as much as might be, brings the supposed Criminals to their Tryals, and by corrupt Judges (such as the Duke had provided for that purpose) were Condemned as guilty of his Murder, whom in all their life time they had never seen.

[Page 33]Tho this matter wa [...] managed on the part of the Governor with all the Fineness and Address imaginable, yet the King was not so satisfied in his Mind, but that he retain'd still a great suspition of the Duke's having an Hand in his Son [...]s Death. But foras­much as he well knew that the Duke had all the Kingdom of Scotland under his Obeisance, partly by Policy, and part­ly by virtue of his Office of Governour, he durst not shew his resentment, nor attempt to call him to an account for it; but was rather afraid on the other hand, lest having ambitious Desires to possess himself of the Crown, he would also make it his Business to procure the death of his second Son James, and by that means take off the only Rub in his way. The King, I say, being thus sollicitous in Mind about securing that to his Posteri­ty which his unnatural Brother was in­tent to deprive them of, consults with Walter Wardlaw, Arch-bishop of St. An­drews about his Son's Security. After serious deliberation they at last conclude it was no ways safe for Prince James to remain in Scotland, and therefore he re­solved to send him over into France to Charles the VI. an old Allie, and real Friend to the Scotish Nation, knowing he could no where be more safely and li­berally educated than there: But consi­dering the uncertain vicissitude of Hu­mane [Page 34] things, and that no Precautions for his future Security might be want­ing, the King delivers his Son a Letter, written to the King of England in his Behalf, if it should be his hard Fortune to fall into the Hands of the English.

The King, in pursuance to the said Resolution orders all things to be got in a readiness, for his Passage, and ap­pointed Henry Sinclear, Earl of Orkney, to take care for the safe Conveyance of him. They took Shipping at the Bass, and so shear'd their Course for the French Shoar; but when they were got as far as Flamborough-Head, they were, as some say, taken by the English, who had heard of their sailing, and laid in wait, to intercept them: But others write, that the Prince finding himself extreamly Sea­sick, and not able to endure it, desired he might be put on Shoar there, and so was taken into Custody, and carry'd up to the English Court; but however it happened, taken he was, in the ninth Year of his Age, Anno 1406. Henry IV. was then King of England, to whose Pre­sence, when the Prince was come, he deliver'd him his Father's Letter; which, because of the rarity of it, as being writ­ten in the Scotish Dialect of those times, we have thought fit to insert, and is as followeth.

When King Henry had read this Let­ter, he deliberated with his Council what was most expedient for him to do upon this occasion, at last considering there were divers English Rebels harbour'd in Scotland, he resolved to keep Prince James as his Prisoner; but yet in such Ho­nourable State, that he could not have met with such Treatment and Advan­tages of a Princely and Liberal Edu­cation in his own native Country. The immature and violent Death of Prince David, as has been already noted, had sunk King Robert's Spirits very low; but when the dreadful News of Prince James, being made Prisoner in England, reached his Ears, which was as he sat at Supper, he had like to have died in the Arms of the Standers by; his Heart was so overpower'd with Grief and Melancholy, as to admit of no man­ner of Consolation; exclaiming against his hard Fortune, in marrying a Wo­man of so mean a degree, to the di­sparagment [Page 38] of his Blood, as was Queen Annabel, by whom he had these Sons, which, as he took it, was the only Cause why Forreign Princes, as well as his own Subjects, had him thus so much in Contempt. So being car­ried into his Chamber, what with wil­ful Abstinence and violent Sorrow, he died in three Days after, having reign'd about sixteen Years, Anno Dom. 1408. A Man he was of a mighty stature, but had not an Heart proportionable to his Bulk, as appears manifestly by the Cir­cumstances of his Death; which tho' not procur'd by violent Hands, yet was suffi­ciently tragical, and herein discover'd himself to be far from the Temper Se­necca speaks of, Nihil tam acerbum est in quo non aquus animus sol [...]tium inveniat.

The Death of King Robert introduc­ed an Interregnum in Scotland for the space of near Eighteen Years, for so long a time was James detain'd a Prisoner in England, and there was no way left but to confirm the old Governor in his Station again, who held it for the space of fifteen Years longer, and at length died a natural Death: but 'tis strange he should, that had been so un­natural to his own Nephew, by famish­ing him to Death, and done so many bar­barous actions, for to clear himself, and to palliate his horrid Fact. He was succeed­ed [Page 39] in his Estate and Honours, by Mor­do, his eldest Son, who was also cho­sen Governor of the Kingdom; a Man, full of Repugnant Vices, and so unfit for the management of that high Office, he was entrusted with, that he was not capable to rule his own Family: He had three Sons, Walter, James, and Ale­xander, who abusing the Lenity and Foo­lish Indulgence of their Father, and play­ing many Outragious Tric [...]s, to the Of­fence and Prejudice of many; and one of them at length being displeased with his Father, in that he would not give him a Falcon he had for a long time greatly desired; he stept unto him, and audaciously plucking the Bird from off his Father's Fist, wrung his Neck from his Body before his Face; whereupon, the Father being somewhat enraged with such presumptuous Doings of his Son, said; Walter, for so was his Name, seeing it is come to that pass, that thou and thy Brothers will not be ruled by my soft and gentle Government, I shall ere long bring him home that shall chastise both you and me af­ter another manner; and from hence for­wards he made it his whole Business to get King James redeem'd from the Hands of the English, and to set him on the Throne. To this purpose he call'd a Parliament at Perth, where it was u­nanimously agreed to send a solemn Em­bassie [Page 40] to the King of England, to de­mand the Restitution of their King, and to offer Terms for his Releasment.

James Stu­art I. be­gan his Reign ac­tually An­no 1423. having been a Pri­soner in England almost eighteen Years. James had contracted some Friends in England during his Captivity, especi­ally by the means of the Lady Jane, Daughter to the Earl of Somerset, whom he had taken to Wife, so that in a short time the Terms for his Liberty were agreed on, and so he sets for­wards towards Scotland. Where he was no sooner arrived but he was encoun­tred with diverse Complaints against se­veral Persons, and especially Walter Stu­art, the Son of the Governor aforesaid, who was sent to Prison in the Bass, and in the next Parliament, convened at Perth; Duke Mordo himself with Ale­xander, another of his Sons were ar­rested, and committed to safe Custody; the Duke to Carlaurock, and his Dutchess to a place call'd Tantalloun. Not long af­ter James, Duke Mordo's third Son (to hasten the fate of the Stuarts) being mo­ved with great Indignation, that his Fa­ther and Brethren were thus (as he con­ceived) unjustly imprison'd, came sud­denly with a good Band of Men to the Town of Dunbritton, sack't and burn the Place, killing one Stuart more, to wit, John, sirnamed the Red, as Buchanan says, and the King's Uncle, with two and [Page 41] thirty Persons besides. But he was so straitned by the King's Arms, and pur­sued so close, that he was forced to flee into Ireland, and soon after died there an exile. The same Year the King call'd a Parliament at Sterling, whereing Mordo, with his two Sons, Walter and Alexander, and Duncan Stuart, Earl of Lenox (four of them at one clap) were convicted of High-Treason, and the two Sons the very same day were beheaded in the open place, before the Castle, and next Morning Duke Mordo and Lenox run the same Fate in the same place: It's a con­stant Fame (saith Buchanan, tho' I find it written no where) that the King sent the Heads of the Father, Husband and Children, to Isabella, Wife to the said Mordo, his Cousin-Germane; to try (a barbarous Practise) whether she who was known to be a fierce Woman, would (as mostly it happens) through excess of Grief, discover the Secresie of her Mind upon such an occasion: But she, not­withstanding all that grievous and un­look'd for Spectacle, did not inordinately break forth into any bitter Words, but only said with a calm Temper, If the faults were true which have been laid to their Charge, the King had done nothing but what is Right and Just unto them. As this King's Reign was usher'd in with the foresaid Troubles, it continued to be in a fer­ment [Page 42] upon other Accounts, and particu­larly for the great Pension raised for his Ransom, and for raising of other Moneys; which tho' the Revenues were exhausted, was interpreted Covetousness in him. But in the thirteenth and last Year of his Reign a sharp Rencounter happening between Henry Percy and William Dow­glas, Earl of Angus, at a place call'd Pi­perden, in the Kingdom of Scotland; James thinking himself injured hereby by the English, as the Scotch Historians write, but Hall and Graston charge him home with Ungratitude herein, raises a great Army, and lays Siege to the Castle of Roxbo­rough; but when, as the Scotch write, he had almost brought his Work to Perfe­ction, and that the besieged began to ca­pitulate about surrendring of the place, the Queen in all haste came to the Camp; and acquainted him there was a horrid Conspiracy framed against his Life, and conjured him to use all the Precautions imaginable to secure himself. The King was surprized with the Message, he forth­with raised the Siege, and returned home, to provide for his better safety, tho' all avail'd little.

But that you may have a clearer Idea of the whole Matter, we must a little look back, and tell you again that Robert II. had three Sons by his Concubine, whom he afterward married, and so settled the [Page 43] Crown upon them, to the Exclusion of his two legitimate Sons by his Queen Euphemia Ross, who were Walter, Earl of Athol, and David, Earl of Strathern: Now these two, tho' they found themselves in­jured by such a Preference of an ille­gitimate Race before them; Yet being inferiour, both in Years and Wealth, they dissembled their Resentment for the present: The Death also of the Earl of Strathern weakned their Hands, who left one only Daughter behind him, who was given in Marriage to Patrick Graham, a noble Youth, and a most potent and illu­strious Family as any in that Age; on whom he begat Melisse Graham, whose Parents did not long survive: And the Child not many Years after, being then a Stripling, was sent into England among those who were Hostages till the Money for the Kings Ransom were discharg'd and paid. But Atholl, tho' he were every ways inferior to the opposite Faction, yet ever made it his Business to take off his Kin­dred, and did not lay aside his Hopes of recovering the Crown; and because he was not capable of doing any thing by open force, he craftily sowed Discord a­mong them, and so plied the Matter, that, as has been already in some measure set forth, a very numerous Family were reduced to a few, for the most part, by his Council. For many were of Opinion, [Page 44] that it it was by his Contrivance that David, Duke of Rothsay, King Robert's Son, was cut off, neither had James escap'd his Snares, unless he had spent the great­est part of his Life in England, far from his reach: He would have encouraged the Earl of Fife to seise upon the King­dom, taxing his Brother with Slothfulness, and fit to be taken off; and when the King, having now no Children to succeed him (for James was then a Prisoner in England) and obnoxious to the Pleasure of his Brother, had suddenly died of Grief, there was only the Governor now and his Children, that impeded his Hopes. But when Robert, the Governor was dead, and his Son John kill'd at the Battle of Ver­nole in France, he re-assumed his former Thoughts with greater Vigour, and strain'd all his Wits to compass the same; first, by getting of King James released, and then contriving Duke Mordo's and his Chil­dren's Death; and since it was almost inconsistent that all these should subsist and be safe together, he foresaw that which soever fell of them; he was one degree nearer to the Crown: There­fore when James was at last return'd to his Country, he set all his Engines on work to hasten Mordo's death, finds out fit tools to bear Testimony against him, and set himself as Judge upon him and his Children; and when they also were cut [Page 45] off, there was only King James and a young Son of six Years old, that stood in the way; and when he by a conjuration of the Nobility were once removed, the Earl did not doubt but himself who was the only surviving Person of the Royal Stem, should be advanced to the Throne. Atholl therefore, I say, being night and day agitated with such Considerations, did however keep all his Designs close and secret; and thro' a counterfeit Zeal for the King's Welfare, made it his Business to cut off his Relations and Friends; and more especially to advance his own Estate by the Misfortune and Crimes of other Men, and so to lessen his Adversaries. In the mean time, King James, to fur­ther his own Misfortune, deprived Melisse Graham, (who we have said was one of the Hostages in England) of the Earldom of Strathern, alledging it was bestowed on his Grandfather of the maternal side, and his Masculine Line; and for want of such Issue, to revert to the Crown: The Mis­fortune of the young Man induced many to commiserate his Case, but made Robert his Guardian almost stark mad; and so being more impatient of the Injury of­fer'd to his Kinsman, stuck not to accuse the King openly of unjustice; and being ci­ted to appear, to make his defence, but did not, a Sentence of Banishment pass'd against him: This did but enrage him more [Page 46] and more, and his whole Business seem'd to be to engage others, who had been in­jur'd in their own Persons or Friends, to entertain the same Sentiments of the King, in respect to his Avarice and Cru­elty as he had done; but it had been well if he had rested here.

You have heard before, how the King was advertised of a Conspiracy against him at Roxborough, and how the King, to ob­viate the same, retired home, and took up his Lodgings in the Convent of the Dominicans at Perth, and what Designs Walter, Earl of Atholl, had been hatch­ing from time to time. Now this Walter, the King's Uncle, tho' he were Principall Author and Contriver of the Conspira­cy, yet he did his utmost endeavour to put off all manner of Suspition of it from him­self; therefore he privily sends for, and discourses with Robert Graham, afore-men­tioned; who, as being an active, bold, rash Man, and an hater of the King, upon account of his own Imprisonment and [...]a­nishment, and the Injury done to his Ne­phew, by divesting of him of the Earl­dom of Strathern, he thought to be a Per­son most fit for his purpose; and with him he engaged his own Grandson Robert Stuart, a stout hardy Youth, who readily engaged in the Work. He instructs them what they were to do, assured them of his favour, when the Fact was perpetrated, [Page 47] not doubting but himself should be ad­vanced to the Throne. Having thus agreed and resolved upon their hellish Design, they advance secretly with their Ac­complices, whom they had drawn into the Conspiracy towards the Friers afore­said, where the King then resided, and encourag'd the King's Porter, whom be­fore they had brought over to their Par­ty, to give them un-interrupted admit­tance; which he does, and they advanced into the Gallery, adjacent to the King's Bed-Chamber, where he shews them the Door might be easily forced open, he himself having taken away the Bolt: O­thers think it was Robert Stuart aforesaid, Atholl's Grandson, that let them into the Court; however it was, while they in the mean time tarried in the Gallery, seeming to deliberate about the breaking the Door open, an Accident made their Pas­sage the more easie; for Walter [...]trat [...]on coming out of the Chamber, as having brought in some Wine for the King a lit­tle before; and seeing of armed Men in the Gallery, he endeavours to whip in again, crying, out Treason, Treason: But before he could get within the Door, to make it fast, they rushed upon him, and slew him outright: While this was done, not without great bustle and noise, a noble Maiden, named Katherine Dowglas, marry'd afterward to Alexander Lovell, [Page 48] of Bolunny, got to the Door, and not find­ing the Bolt that had before been taken away (as you have heard) she thrusts her Arm into the place where the Bar should have been; but her Arm was soon crusht and broke, and the Ruffians forced their way into the Chamber. Such of the Servants as were there, and made Resi­stance, they dispatch forthwith, and then advanced towards the King, and fell up­on him: The Queen did all she could to defend him, and receiv'd two Wounds, and thereby was forced to give over the Conflict; and so at last, the King having received to the number of eight and twen­ty Wounds, and some of them to the Heart, was slain by them. Thus fell James the I. King of Scotland, by violent and bloody Hands, and seem'd to entail a vio­lent Death upon all of his Name that suc­ceeded him; but because the Execution of some of the Conspirators was the most terrible that can be met with in History, we shall shall give you a short Account of it, and the rather, because of the Persons concern'd therein.

The Nobles of the Kingdom hearing this unexpected News, assembled from all parts of the Nation to Edinburg, and made such diligent Search after the Con­spirators, that they were soon apprehend­ed, Tried and Condemn'd. Walter Stu­art, Earl of Atholl, was charged, as being [Page 45] principal Actor in this Tragedy, his crime exaggerated to the height, and was exe­cuted in this tremendous manner. On the first day, being stripped of all his cloaths, save only his shirt only, he was bound fast in a Cart to an Instrument of wood made like to a swipe, with Ropes and Pul­lies to the same, by which means they sometimes raised him up on high into the Air that the people might see him, and by slackning of the Rope all of a sudden, let him down with a swang dis-jointing all his body thereby; then they brought him to an open place, where all might be Spectators and Crowned him with a red hot Crown of Iron, with this Elogium that he might be Stiled the Ring of all Traytors. The reason of this part of the punishment was said to be this; for that a Witch had told him that he should be Crowned with great Pomp and Mag­nificence in the presence of the people, and that the prediction was in this man­ner either fullfilled or eluded. On the second day he was drawn on a hurdle through the high Street of Edenburg at an Horses tail; he was on the third day extended upon a board at the Market-Cross, his Belly ripped up and his Bow­els taken out, thrown into the fire and burnt before his face; then was his heart plucked out and burnt likewise, and last of all his head was chopp'd off and fixed [Page 46] upon a long Pole and set upon the highest place of the City, his body divided in­to four Quarters and sent to the four principal Cities of the Kingdom. The Execution of Robert Stuart was not al­together so severe as that of his Grand­father, some respect being had to his youth: But as for Robert Graham, who (as did appear) was the Person that slew the King with his own hands, he was put into a Cart and that hand that did the deed, fastned to a pair of Gallows that was set up in the said Cart; then were three persons appointed to thrust him through all parts of his body with hot Irons, beginning first with those places where it was thought no hasty Death would ensue, as with his Legs, Arms, Thighs and Shoulders, and thus was he carried through all the Streets of the City and tormented in a most horrible manner, and at last his Belly ript open, Bowelled and Quartered as Atholl was be­fore, and thus was the cruel Death of King James revenged in the most cruel manner that was ever heard off, beyond all the Bounds of Humanity.

James Stuart II began his Reign March 27. 1437.You have seen the dreadful effects of the Interr [...]gnum, now the Kingdom falls un­der a worse Administration, even un­der one of the woes of God Almighty himself, for this King was succeeded by [Page 47] his Son James, the second of that Name, a Minor of about six years old; And as the King was not yet able to Govern him­self, another must be chosen, to Govern both him and the Kingdom; and this fell to Sir Alexander Levinston and Sir William Creichton the Chancellor; the former had the denomination of the Governour, and the other had the Kings keeping. Never was poor Prince more harrased till he came to Maturity, which they say in Princes is at fourteen, through the Jealousy and Am­bition of these two men fomented also by others, who were willing to fish in trou­bled waters. The Chancellour kept the King in Edenburg Castle; the Queen Jane sides with the Governor and resided at Ster­ling; Archembald Earl of Dowglass a pow­erful Sub [...]ect, kept within his own Terri­tories, and would obey none of them all; by which discords many evils ensued: The Queen being intent upon advancing the Governor's side, and thereby gratify her own Ambition, repairs one day with a small retinue to the City of Edenburg; and with a Womanish Dissimulation, won the Chancellor to give her Admittance into the Castle to see the King, and to abide with him; whose Company she so extream­ly longed for. But when she had been there three Days, she feigns a Pilgrimage one morning to the White Ki [...]k; but first wheedles with the King to make his escape, [Page 48] which she easily brought him to, packed him up dexterously in a Trunk, as if he had been a bundle of Cloaths, and sent him away by one of her trusty Servants, laid upon a Sumpter Horse into Lieth, from whence he was conveyed by water to Sterling, and Joyfully received by the Go­vernor who highly extolled the Queens Conduct in deceiving so wise a Man as the Chancellor, and without delay raises Forces and Besieges him in Edenburg Castle. He perceiving the danger, had no other way left but to send to the Earl of Dow­glass for his Assistance. Dowglass disdains them both and would not be concerned: The Chancellor seeing this, agrees with the Governor, and he was still to keep the Castle and his Chancellorship. Not long after died Dowglass and was suc­ceeded by his Son William, who kept a greater port and retinue than his Father. But things could not hold long in this State, for the Chancellor disdaining that the Governor should take the whole Ad­ministration upon him, leaves him and the King at Sterling, (where he then was) and repairs to Edenburg, and there imploys all his Wits how he might recover the King from the Governor; and after he had well thought of it, he rides one mor­ning with four and twenty Men in his Company to the Park of Sterling, where he knew the King was a Hunting, and that [Page 49] the Governor was absent at Perth. He found the King with a very small retinue and saluted him very dutifully, and find­ing him in some surprize at the Com­pany, he exhorted him in a few words as the time would permit, to be of good cheer and fear nothing, that they were come to deliver him from his Captivity; that he might be no longer under the Government of another, but take the Administration into his own hands and much to the same purpose. All which the King received with a pleasant aspect; either because the motion pleased him as desirous to Rule, or to dissemble the fear he had of the Chancellor, and so went with him to Edenburg. The Go­vernor upon his return, was horri­bly surprized at the News, but be­ing now unable to remedy the matter, by the means of friends, he and the Chancellor came to an Accommodation a­gain; and the result was, that the Governor should still continue in his Office, and the King remain in the keeping of the Chancellor, as at first: So that the free­dom before tendred to him, and with which he seem'd to be well pleas'd, was now but a meer illusion, being as much a Captive as ever.

And if the King was no better for this Agreement; It proved fatal to the Earl of Dowglass: Both Governor and Chan­cellor [Page 50] dreading his power, now conbine together to ruine him, and to that End, a Parliament must be called, where se­veral Complaints were made against Dow­glass and his followers. But they two perswade the Parliament to send for the Earl in a friendly manner, and not as a delinquent, to take his place in that As­sembly; And by the Governors contri­vance, Honourable Letters were directed to him, in the Name of them all, full of soothing expressions, intimating his own Person was so far from being in any danger, by such his attendance in Par­liament, that if any of his Friends or Family had chanced to be guilty of any disorders, all should be frankly remitted: This bait took the young Gentleman, and so with his Brother David and an handsom retinue, sets forward for Eden­burg; the Chancellor the better to cloak the Treachery, rode out many miles from Edenburg to meet him; Caressed and Entertained him splendidly on the way at the Castle of Creichton, and to blind him the more, there in the most friendly and tender manner in the World, began to advise the Earl in what concerned his Duty towards his Prince and the Honour and Glory of his Family; and this showed him on to Edenburg, tho' things could not be carried on so coverlly between the Gover­nor and Chancellor in the management of [Page 51] this intrigue, but that some of the Earls Friends began to smell a Rat and advised him not to go to Edenburg. But finding him quite averse to Counsel and void of all suspicion, they urged him to send his Bro­ther David back, to the End he might not hazard the whole Family under the fortune of one stroke, as his Father had before admonished him upon his Death-Bed. But all in vain, and so to Eden­burg Castle they came, where the Go­vernor meets him and Carressed him high­ly, and because he should now think his Entertainment every ways suitable to the semblance made of it all along, he was set to Dine at the King's Table; but latet Angus in herba, the Earl before he h [...]d well half Din'd, was strangely sur­prized with the sight of a Bulls Head set before him, which in those Days was a certain sign of Death; whereat being about to rise from the Table, he and his Brother David were immediately seized by Armed men set there for that purpose; carried into the Court yard and there forthwith beheaded. It was said the King, in whose presence this was done, and who now was entring in­to years of Maturity and Discretion; lamented his Death bitterly, for which the Chancellor severely rebuked him; but however it was in this case, it's most cer­tain he afterwards most barbarously mur­dered [Page 52] one of this Earls Successors, with his own hands, as you'l see by and by.

This Earl of Dowglass was Succeeded in his Estate and Honours by his Unkle James Dowglass Baron of Abercorn; who is Succeed­ed by his Son William; who to prevent the division of the Inheritance, Married the on­ly Sister of the last William Beheaded, who was Stiled the fair Maid of Gallaway. This Earl flourishing in Estate and Honours, and finding the King take the Administration of the Government upon himself, came to Sterling, and in a short time grew into high Favour with him; insomuch, that through his perswasion, the Chancellor and Gover­nor were not only discharged from their Offices, but put out of the Council, and their Friends banished the Court, and themselves Summoned to appear before the King, and upon default proclaimed Rebels; so that now the Tables are quite turn'd. Dowglass Rules all, and the King suffers minority under him in his Just Age, as he really did under the others during his nonage; himself and his Kindred and Friends possessing all places of profit and Preferment in the Kingdom. But the Earl, having I know not what crochet in his brain, must needs go in­to Italy, and a Noble retinue he had with him; but leaves his Estate, during his absence to be managed by his Brother the Earl of Ormond. His back was no [Page 53] sooner turned, but his Enemies set all their Engines on work to put him out of the Kings Favour and good Esteem, and prevailed so far upon him as to put out an unreasonable Summons, requiring the Earl to appear within for­ty Days, or else he should be put to the Horn, and so his Lands were seized on to the Kings hands. The Earl being ad­vertised hereof, returns with all speed, and was again received into Favour: But happening to go into England without leave; this incensed the King highly a­gainst him, yet upon submission was a­gain reconciled. But there was nothing could reconcile him and the Chancellor Creichton, envy brought them to make attempts upon each other's life, and at last the Earl was so put to it, that he was forced to flee out of Edenburg to save his own life; whereupon he enters into a Confederacy with his Friends for his own security, which together with some Depredations made in the Lord Ferres Lands, by some of the Earls Tenants with­out redress from him, upon Complaint made thereof, enraged the King to an high degree against him: But sore disorders still increasing through the Earls not pu­nishing of the offenders; at last Ferres makes an inroad by way of reprisal in­to his Lands, was taken, and by the Earls command was put to Death; tho' the [Page 55] King by an Herault commanded the con­trary; so that upon serious Deliberati­on, the King finding his power unsuffici­ent for curbing him, had no other way left, than to send to him in a most Cour­teous manner to come to him, who was then in Sterling Castle. The Earl, appre­hensive of some design upon his Person, refused without he had an assurance of safe Conduct under the Kings great Seal; which being Granted, he came, and was received with a great semblance of good Will by the King, who to [...]k him into a Room by themselves; and there, after some other Admonitions, expostulated with him about the Confeder [...]cy he had entred into, with the Earl of Crawford and others, and would have urged him to forsake the same; Alledging, it was no ways Honourable for him, but hurt­full, and tho' he took it very ill at his hands, yet he allowed him the Liberty to dis [...]null it, tho' himself had full pow­er to command it; Dowglass was very ob­sequious in all things 'till this business of the League came in Question; whereunto he did not Answer distinctly, but would have put it off 'till he had discoursed with his Confederates thereupon, neither could he well see at present what could be in that League which could be offensive to the King, that he should insist so much upon his breaking of it; whereup­on [Page 56] the King, who it's likely had already determined to commit the perjur'd Fact, tho' his flattering Courtiers would have his displeasure only to arise from the Earls present stubborness; said, if you will not, I will break it; and without any more ado, struck him with his Dag­ger in his breast, those that stood at the Door, hearing the bustle, rushed in and dispatched him by many wounds. His Brethren and Kindred being at first surprized and then exasperated at the horridness of the Fact, and the faithless proceedings of the King to­wards the Earl, flew to their Arms, and made no less than a Civil War of it, which was waged between the King and them with various Fortunes; at last the King prevailed, which brought great De­struction and Calamity upon that Noble Family of the Dowglasses: And then it was that King James began to Reign, as the Historian says, their greatness having been hitherto a Check upon him. But his Civil broils were scarce ended when he was brought to engage in the fatal con­troversy which happened in England, be­tween the Houses of York and Lancaster. He at first sided with King Henry VI a­gainst Richard, Duke of York; but after­ward faced about, Upon the Duke's pro­mise that Cumberland and other Lands should be restored unto him, that had [Page 56] been in the possession of his Ancestors if the Duke prevailed, and so assisted the Yorkians; having therefore raised an Ar­my, as he was entering into England, he was for a time diverted cunningly by an English Gentleman, who took upon him to be the Pope's Nuncio; His Speech, Ha­bit and Retinue were perfectly Italian, and to make the matter more plausible with the Cloak of Religion, he had a Monk along with him and so with the Popes Counterfeit Letters they ap­proached to the King, and charged him to proceed on no farther, and threat­ned him, if he did, to curse him. For that the Pope to the end the War might be carried on against the Common E­nemy of Christianity with greater vi­gor, having now Composed all diffe­rences in Europe, was set upon Accom­modating this matter in Britain; That they indeed were sent before, to pre­admonish him, but that another Legate would quickly follow, with an Ample power to Compose the Civils Discords in England, and to procure satisfaction for the injuries sustained by the Scots. This bait took him, and so he Dis­banded his Army; But alas nothing could divert this Prince's now impend­ing Fate, for being soon after adverti­sed of the trick put upon him by the foresaid Counterfeit Nuncio, he re-assem­bles [Page 57] his Army, and because he could not directly Joyn with York's Forces, He marches to the Siege of Roxborough, and having quickly master'd the Town, lays close Seige to the Castle, which made a brave defence. The Duke and his Com­panions having in the mean time pre­vailed, sent to give King James thanks for his Assistance, desire him, now things were amicably terminated, to return home, least the English being incensed, they should be forced to march against the Scotch Army. The King having receiv­ed the Message, asked those that brought it, whether the Duke of York and his Friends said any thing in relation to the promises they had made, when he came into their Assistance, but finding no sa­tisfaction in that point, he proceeds with great Fury to assault the Castle, and Batters the Walls with Cannon, which began then to be much used, as they were much dreaded; and being very for­ward and intent upon his work, one of his Guns being over-charged, burst, and a slice thereof struck the King dead to the ground, and hurt no other be­sides himself; a strang fatality that brought him to his end, when he had lived twenty nine Years, and of them Reigned twenty four. Anno. 146 [...]. He left three Sons behind him, James that Succeeded him, Alexander Duke of Al­bany, [Page 58] and John Earl of Mar, who were a plague to one another, while alive, and not one of them died a natural death, as we shall shew in its proper place.

James Stuart III. began his Reign An­no. 1460. James III. (a Minor of seven Years old, as his Father before him) came to the Crown, and at first fell under the Care and Re­gency of his Mother, as did the whole Kingdom; a Woman after the decease of her Husband, James II. that lead a Scan­dalous life, keeping one Adam Hepborn, who was himself a Married Man for her Gallant, but death put an end to her Lewd­ness and Government together, about three Years after: Then he came into the hands of the Boyds, who Ruled the roast for a long time, but at last made a fatal Ca­tastrophe; he took to Wife Margaret Daughter to the King of Denmark and Norway, Anno. 1469. And about this time began to Exercise the Royal power him­self: He involved himself at first with the Affairs of the Church, and not long, after, became miserably enslaved with the predictions of Astrologers and Witch­es, to which he was strangely addicted and which brought not only destruction up­on his kindred, but also at last upon himself, which we shall now prosecute as they fell out, in order. He was on a time, it seems, informed by some Sycophant or other, that his kindred laid in wait for [Page 59] his life, and that he was in great danger; which agreeing with the sayings of the Witches which he had Consulted, and who had told him, that the Lyon should be de­voured by his Whelps, it made very deep impressions upon his suspicions mind, and so from a Prince at first very hopefull, and of great expe [...]ation, degenerated to a Mon­strous Tyrant. So that now these suspicions having once possession of his mind from henceforth he looked upon his neer Relati­ons and almost all the best of the Nobility as his Enemies: The Nobility on the other hand finding none preferred by the K. but Men of base degree, were not a little disa­tisfied, and began to alienate their Affections from him, wherefore they met together up­on this occasion to concert measures how they might purge the Court of those abject Fellows, and reduce it to its former State of Grandeur. The princi­pal of this Assembly were the Kings two Brothers, Alexander and John; the lat­ter whereof having discoursed of the Irregularities and the present State of that Kingdom somewhat frankly and li­berally, and with less Caution than the rest, he was suddenly taken by night in his own House, by the Court Faction, and conveyed to a place called Cr [...]gmil­ler, and there Imprisoned by the King's order, and not long after, by the same Courtly Crew was adjudged to Die, and [Page 60] Executed accordingly in the Cannon Gate, by cutting his Veins and letting him bleed to Death. And as they had thus barbarously murdered his Person they pro­ceeded also to murder the Earls fame, for they gave out that his Crime was, that he had had Secret Consultation with Witches, about destroying the King, and to put as good a Colour as they could upon this unnatural Act, tho' it were by heaping up iniquity upon ini­quity, they brought several other Wit­ches and Sorcerers to their Tryal for the said Fact, and burnt them at Eden­burg for the same. So that here is one of the three Brothers dispatch'd, you'll here of the rest by and by. Alexander the other Brother, and Duke of Alba­ny, tho he had neither acted nor said any thing that might Justly disgust ei­ther the King or Courtiers that were about him, yet as he was next of Kin so it seems he was next in danger; for these Blood-suckers mistrusting with them­selves that they could ne'er be safe as long as he was alive, got him suddenly seiz­ed and sent Prisoner to Edenburg Castle. He was kept close there by such as did believe his power might be Fatal to them, and finding there was no way by his Friends for to pacify the Kings dis­pleasure, he had nothing to do now but to consider how he might make his escape, [Page 61] he had none to communicate his design to, or to further him in it, but one only Servant of his own that was left to be with him in his Chamber; him he sent to get a Ship ready to attend him at the next Part, at the time appointed which he does effectually: In the mean time his persecutors to Plague him the more with their delusions, sent several Messengers from the Court, who feign­ed in the presence of his Keepers (for he was not allowed to talk with any privately) that the King's Anger began to be pacified, and that he might short­ly hope for his Liberty; but when the day appointed for his escape was come; he puts as good a meen as possible he could upon the matter, and begins to feign a belief in what the Messengers said in Favour of him, and Questioned not but to have a speedy and honourable deliverance: And to further the Design, treats his Keepers with a splendid Supper, and Drinks with them till it was late at night; but when they were gone and fast asleep, he falls to work, and makes a Rope of the Sheets of his Bed, long enough as he thought to reach the ground; and first for to make a Tryal therof, lets down his Man by it, by whole fall he finds it was short­er then it should have been. Having therefore lengthened the Rope as much as the present Circumstance would admit, [Page 62] he follows his Man, who in his descent had broke his Leg, takes him up upon his back and carries him about a mile, to the Sea-side, and having got a Favou­rable Wind, set sail for Dumbarton, and from thence, having first well secured the Castle, he sailed into France. The Duke was honourably received in France and Married the Earl of Bologn's Daugh­ter; but upon the Death of his Wife, who lived not long with him, finding Affections cool towards him, he goes over into England, and was entertained by Edward IIII. then King of England; who assisted him with an Army to in­vade Scotland, under the Command of his Brother, Richard Duke of Gloucester. King James makes all the Force he could to oppose them, but being Governed by his former Councells, the Nobility took it in high disdain, and therefore they met together in the Church of Lowder, where the King and his Army then were, to deliberate what they should do in such a conjuncture. Where Archibald Dow­glass, Earl of Angus, takes upon him to set forth the occasion of their meet­ing, which he did in a very pathetick Speech, and shew'd at large all the e­normities of the King's Reign down to the present time; the danger they then stood in from a Foreign Army, and there­fore exhorts them first to shake of the [Page 63] Domestick Yoke of servitude they were under, before they Engaged with the E­nemy, &c. this Oration wrought so ef­fectually upon their minds, that they were immediately ready to run in headlong into the Pallace without any Considera­tion of what they were to do; But the principal Men amongst them appeasing the tumult, advised that a sufficient num­ber should only enter in without any shew of Commotion, and take out the Criminals, lead them to Judgment, and Punish them according to Law. In the mean time, while these things were in Agitation, comes a Rumour into the Court, that the Nobles held a Consul­tation together before day in the Church, the subject whereof was uncertain, but that it must be strange that such Men should Assemble together without the King and his Councellors Knowledge: The King hereupon being hastily awa­ken out of his sleep, enquires of those about him, what he had best to do; in the mean time he sends Cockram before to observe what was done, and to give him an Account of all with speed; he with a few followers goes towards the Church, and meets the cheif of the No­bility advancing towards the Court, whom they no sooner espied, but Dowglass laid hands on him▪ and catching hold of a large Gold Chain he had about his neck, [Page 64] squeezed him first a little and then sends him to Prison, himself with the rest go­ing directly to the King's Bed-Chamber: Where, when they came, they filled all with Astonishment, so as that there seem­ed to be a little pause upon the mat­ter for the present, but it was not long e're they seized upon the Kings Evil Coun­cellors that were about him, and sent them all away save only John Ramsey, a very young man that clung to the King, and who intreated for him that he might be spared. The rest were lead to Judg­ment, and with the loud cries of the Army calling for Justice upon those miscreants, were hanged out of the way; and such forwardness was shewed to have them dispatched speedily, that when they wanted Ropes upon such a sudden oc­casion every one was ready to offer his Horses Halter or the Reins of his Bri­dle for that purpose. These Wretch­es were charged with many private in­juries, and among the more publick ones was, their advising the King to Coin base Copper Money, which the Common peo­ple by way of reproach, called Black-Money, and that this was the principal cause of the scarcity that was in the Land, the want of Trade, and many o­ther Calamities too long to be incerted. To the Kings charge was laid the un­just death of the Earl of Mar, his Bro­ther, [Page 65] his advancing of Cockram a Ma­son to the said Earldom, his practising of Magick and resolvedness to destroy his Relations. This done, they returned to Edenburg and appointed the King himself to be kept in the Castle of the said City, by the E. of Atholl, and in the mean time they send to the English Army for a Cessation of Arms for three Months. The Duke of Albany was honourably re­ceived into his Country again and had the Castle of Dunbar with the Earldoms of March and Mar conferred upon him and was withal Proclaimed the Kings Lieutenant General.

While things were in this state, the English take the Castle of Berwick, the Town having been surrendred to them before; The Duke of Albany making a faint of relieving the same, but did nothing. At length the Duke accompanied with the Chancellor, Archbishop of St. An­drews and others, went to Sterling to pay the Queen and Prince a visit; they had not been there long when the Queen en­tering into a secret Conference with the Duke (unknown to the rest) about the King's Confinement; and urging how no­ble and generous, as well as advantagious an act it would be in him to imploy his power for his releasement, he consents to the undertaking; and so returning to Edenburg, besieged the Castle and took it, [Page 66] remov'd the Earl of Athol, and so sets the King and all his Servants at liberty; for which extraordinary favour, the King shewed him great tokens of his affections, but they were not long-lived; for the re­membrance of old offences are of greater force in a degenerous and impotent mind than fresh kindnesses. And to foment his jealousies, he had always those at his El­bow, who never ceased to upbraid the Duke to him, of affecting too much po­pularity, and to construe the same as an infallible sign of his intentions to snatch at the Crown when ever a fit opportunity presented. The Duke, who was not igno­rant of those jealousies, entertained of him, and at last finding there was a design formed against him, of no less than tak­ing away his Life, and that (as appeared) by poyson, withdraws privily into Dun­bar Castle: And the King, as consci­ous of his evil doings, fearing the displea­sure of his Nobles, hereupon withdraws also into the Castle of Edenburg; where the Earls of Angus, Buchan and others forsook him, and assisted the Duke; But the King being haunted still by his Evil Spirits (I mean) those vile fellows, whom he had again placed about his Person, he summoned the Duke and his adherents, to appear and answer for such treasonable Crimes as he had to lay to their Charge; and withall prepared an Army to Besiege [Page 67] Dunbar, which the Duke having notice off, he flies into England: And afterwards being accompanied with the Earl of Dowg­lass and others was engaged to invade the Marches of his own Country, but meeting with ill success, and being check­ed by the King of England for his ill Con­duct, he grew sullen thereupon, and withdrew secretly into France; where not long after, according to the usual fate of his Family, running at Tilts with Lewis Duke of Orleans, he was wounded with the splinter of a Spear, and thereof Dyed. So that here is two of them gone, the fate of the third is now approaching, with winged hast; For the King having once got a Peace with the English, and the Castle of Dunbar into his hands, which seemed for some time to put a check up­on his exorbitance, he returns to his old haunts, gives himself over not only to be guided by Favourites and mean Persons as before, who were his Leeches to drain his Subjects, to satiate his covetous desires, but to unlawful pleasure with loose Wo­men: Among the men Favourites John Ramsey saved (as you have heard be­fore) by the Kings importunity from an Halter, was chief: This Man having been advanced to the dignity of Lord Stuard K of the ing's Houshold, and en­dowed with many large demesns, became so elated in mind, that not being content [Page 68] with that large fortune, nothing would serve, but he must have an order that none besides himself and his Companions should go armed in those places where the King resided, designing by this devise to for­tifie himself and his Faction against the Nobility of the Kingdom, whom he found to go frequently armed themselves, and accompanied with such as were well provided for their defence: But this E­dict procured him more hatred, than it wrought fear in his Enemies. In the mean time the King minded nothing as much as to gratifie his mind with the blood of those, who were thought to be the Authors of Rebellion: And seeing he could not bring about his purposes, he endeavours to surprise them by cunning, for feigning to be reconciled to one of them after another, he entertained them with that gentleness, and in so soothing a manner as came below the Dignity of a Prince to do. Others of them who excelled in Riches and Power, he accumu­lated with Rewards and Honours, mak­ing David Lindsey Earl Crawford, Duke of Montross; and George Earl of Angus he would have frequently in his Company, carrying it so, by communicating his se­cret Counsels unto him, as if he were throuhgly reconciled. But his Rewards and Blandishments had but little effect up­on any of them, in respect to any opini­on [Page 69] his Sincerity; for they who knew his disposition doubted not but all that sem­blance of Goodness and Favour tended to no other end than either to surprise them, one after another, or to set them at variance one against another, which when he had got the chief of Nobility to Edenburg did more clearly appear; for having sent for Dowg­lass to him into the Castle, he shewed him what a brave opportunity he now had to be revenged on them, for if he did but se­cure the Heads of the Factions and punish them, the rest would be quiet: That if he lett his opportunity that presented it self, slip, he could never afterward hope for such another. Dowglass, who well knew that the Kings mind was as implacable towards him as the rest of them, cunningly discusses that rash and evil Counsel; arguing with him, what a base and flagitious offence all the world would look upon it to be, if he should without due Process of Law, suddenly hale to execution so many Illustrious Persons, to whom he was reconciled, as having given his Royal Word for pardoning of what was past, and that not long since, and now secur'd with the Publick Faith; for the fierce and enraged minds of Enemies, would not be broken with the ruine of a few, and com­ing once to despair of Pardon, they would turn their wrath into fury, and the consequence of that would be, that they would grow more stobborn and ob­stinate, [Page 70] and less value the King's Autho­rity, and their own lives; and if your Highness will take my Counsel, continued the Earl, I [...]ll put you in a way, whereby to salve the King's Honour and Dignity, and that revenge may at the same time be prose­cuted: For I having gathered my Friends and Tenants together, will openly and in the day time lay hold of them; and then you may try them where you will, and punish them as you please; and this will be not only more Honourable, but also more safe for the King, than if they should be killed at unawares in the Night, as it were by Thiefs. The King believing the Earl spoke what he thought (for he knew well enough, that he was able to perform what he promised) he gave him many thanks for his advise, and dismissed him laden with large Promises of Reward. The Earl having warned the Peers to take care of their safety, and to withdraw from the imminent danger that hung over their Heads, does himself also retire to a place of safety.

The King from hence forwards finding his secret Counsels laid open, and not daring to trust any body, betook himself to the Castle of Edenburg; and from thence being conveyed by Sea to the Countries beyond the Forth, which still were obedient to him, did in a short time levy a good Army. And now the Nobi­lity, [Page 71] who before designed nothing, but that the King should amend in his male administration, finding all accommodati­on with him desperate, and his evil dis­position incurable, bend all their Coun­sels to remove him. A bad Steward (its most certain) he had been, and now they are resolved to call him to a severe account for the same. The great difficulty that stood in their way, and, which they were deliberating to remove, was, whom they should appoint to be their Captain, who when the King were brought to a com­pliance, might be constituted Vicegerent of the Kingdom: It was adjudged high­ly necessary it should be a person, that was pleasing to the Commonallity, of an Illustrious Name, That the Faction might not be opprest and weakned out of an en­vy to his Greatness; and at last after they had thought of one and another, they pitched unanimously upon the King's own Son, the Prince of Scotland, who being taken from his Keepers and Governours of his tender years, was urged to a speedy compliance, for if otherwise, they were resolved to transfer the Kingdom into the hands of the King of England, who would take care to root out him and his Family for the better security of it. Now the King had past over the Forth, and pitched his Tents at a place called Blackness, and the Sons Army, ready prepared to give [Page 72] Battle were not a far off: But by the me­diation of the Earl of Athol the King's Uncle, things were at present brought to an accommodation, and Athol himself was delivered as an Hostage, to Adam Hepborn Earl of Bothwell, in whose custody he re­mained till the K. death, which now was not far off. But the agreement as being between such as had an incurable jealousie of one ano­ther, did not last long: In the mean time Couriers and Mediators past continually from one to another, at last the Lords gave determinate answer; That seeing the King acted nothing sincerely with an intention to perform, they adjudged it better to be engaged in a certain War than a delusive and treacherous Peace; That the only hopes of agreement was if the King would Abdicate the Throne, and have his Son advanced in his room; if not, it would be to no purpose for them to try and frustrate one another with Conferen­ces: The King not to be wanting to him­self in this desperate Fortune, orders his Embassadors in England and France, to communicate this answer to those Kings, whom he earnestly sollicites to make use of their Authority, or if need were, their Forces too in his behalf, for the repressing of the insolence of a few Rebels, and reduce them to Reason and their Duty, and to esteem his Fortune common with their to own, and such as might by the Contagion thereof [Page 73] easily creep to other Nations: He sent al­so to Eugenius IIII. Pope of Rome, to in­treat him out of his Paternal care and love to the Scotish Name and Nation, to send a Legate into Scotland to enforce the Rebells, according to the Authority of his Holiness's Power and Jurisdiction, to lay down their Arms and obey their King. The Pope having one Adrian Castlean for his Legate in England, a Man of great Learning and Prudence, he Writes to him to use his endeavour to compose the Scotch Affairs, and bring them to a settlement. But this came a day after the fare; for the Lords who knew well enough that these proceedings of the King abroad were in agitation, and withall that his mind was implacable towards them, resolved, before he should have an opportunity to augment the number of his Forces, to try it out by Arms; and though they had the Kings Son with them, as well to ma­nifest their Authority to the Common People, as to shew that they were not an­gry with or had no quarrel against their Country, but a pernicious King, who would have ruined them; yet least the minds of the people should be alienated by the cunning or forreign Ambassadors and other accidents that attend procra­stination, they were busied night and day how to commit all to the hazard of a Battle: But the Kings timerousness was [Page 74] an obstacle to their eagerness and hast, who because he had ordered considerable Levies to be made, for the augmentation of the Troops he had on foot already, in the northern parts of the Kingdom, did in the mean time keep himself close with­in the Castle of Edenburg: But that he might precipitate his fate, he was brought by his Followers, whether designedly or ignorantly is uncertain, to forsake this wholsome Counsel which he looked upon to be safest for him; for they perswaded him, that by reason of the frequent tides there, which might cause delay and dan­ger to them that were about to meet to­gether; it were more adviseable he should go to Sterling Castle, the best situ­ated place of any, for gathering of For­ces together out of all parts of the King­dom: That he would be as safe there as in Edenburg Castle, seeing his Enemies were unprepared of all things necessary for a Siege, That his Fleet also which he had prepared to be an help to him at all adventures, might be at hand: This ad­vice did indeed seem to be sound and re­al, and had been safe enough in all proba­bility in the event, had it not been that the Governour of the Castle being cor­rupted by the opposite Faction, excluded him from admittance: And now all things conspire to his ruin, for the Lords were now at his heels, that he could not possi­bly [Page 75] retire to the Castle of Edenburg again, and the Forces raised by the Earls of Hunt­ley, Errol, Athol and diverse other Noble­men who stuck to him, and which, they said, amounted to the number of Forty Thousand Men, being not yet come up, he would not stay for them, and so with those Forces he had with him hazards a Battle: The Battle was at first very fierce, and the first Wing of the Nob [...]es Army gave way, but the Annandalians and their Neighbours, who inhabite the Western parts of Scotland, press hard upon the Kings Forces, and with their huge Spears, much longer than their Adversaries, quick­ly broke the King's main Body, who find­ing now it was in vain to stand it, and being injured with the fall of his Horse, retires to a Mill that was not far off from the place of Battle, with a design, as was thought, to get aboard his Ships which were not far off, where being taken with a few more he was slain: It's not fully agreed who killed him, but pursued he was to the foresaid place by Patrick Grey, Sterling Keiry, and a Priest whose name was Borthick; and who, it was said, being asked by the King for a Confessor, rough­ly replied, That though he was no good Priest, yet he was a good Leech, and with that stab'd him to the Heart: And here you see how contemptible the Majesty of a Prince is, that is sullied with degenerous [Page 76] actions; and there was this further igno­miny affixed to his Death, That it was enacted in the next Sessions of Parliament, that he Justly suffered, and strictly for­bidden that any who had bore Arms against him or thier descendants, should be up­braided therewith. Young he was, being about 35 years when he died, and of them had Reigned near Twenty Eight, in the year of our Lord 1488.

James Stu­art IV. be­gan his Reign An. 1488.The Son who had headed this Army, is now advanced to the Father's Throne, and known by the name of James the IV. being then about Sixteen years of Age. Wood, who Commanded the Ships before mentioned, was with great difficulty brought to submit, and did afterward this King great Service; who it seems had some remorse for his contributing so much to his Fathers Death, for in token there­of he wore continually an Iron Chain a­bout his middle, all the days of his life, made frequent visits to Religious places, &c. all which methinks seems to have been put upon him by some crafty Priest, tho Historians are silent in that particular; but he had hardly been warm in his Throne, when those Nobles that were of his Father's Party, sent their Emissaries to all the parts of the Kingdom, and ex­hort one another, not to endure the pre­sent [Page 77] state of things; That so many brave Men should not suffer such publick pa­ricides who had murdred one King, and kept the other in servitude, so proudly to illude them, and to charge them with being guilty of High-Treason, who fought for the King's defence and safety; but that they should arrogate to themselves who were violators of all Divine and Hu­mane Laws, the title of being defenders of the Honour and Dignity of the Com­monwealth, and preservers of their Coun­try, in whose hands the King himself was not free; as being enforced, first to take up Arms against his Father and King, and having, wickedly slain him, to prosecute his Father's Friends, and such ns engaged in his defence by an unjust and Cruel War, that was intollerable. When many things of this nature had been bandyed about amongst the Common People, Alex­ander Forbes, to excite in them a greater hatred towards the present Administrati­on, caused the dead King's bloody Shirt to be hung up on a long Pole, and exposed publickly at Aberdeen, and other places where there was great concourse of Peo­ple; This being as it were a publick Edict to stir up all Men to revenge so foul a Deed. Nay, many of them who had en­gaged with them actually in the slaughter, finding that all things did not go as they [Page 78] would have it, now joyned with these Malecontents. And as things were trans­acted in these parts about Aberdeen much to the new King's prejudice, Matthew Stewart Earl of Levins, a popular and po­tent Man in his Country, summons all such as he had influence over, this side the Forth, to come to him, and having raised a good body of Men, finding he could not make his way over Sterling Bridge, which was guarded by the Roy­alists, he hastens towards a Ford, not far from the River-head, at the foot of Mount Grampias, with a design to joyn with his Friends in those parts: Now when John Drummond had notice hereof by Alexander Mac Alpin his Tenant, and who had joyned the Enemy, and found plainly, that all things were so careless and secure in the Enemies Camp, that they dispearsed themselves up and down as every one pleased, and had no Centry, nor Scouts, and de­stitute of all Military Order and Disci­pline; he immediately with the Courtiers and a few Voluntiers he had with him, sets upon them un-a-wares and in a man­ner all asleep, which was in too many of them continued by Death, the rest un­arm'd run back headlong from whence they came, and many were made Pri­soners, but some known Friends and Ac­quaintance [Page 79] were let go, they were se­vere only upon such as wrote or spoke very contumeliously of the Government; and so this storm blew over, and not long after a Parliament was called, where­in past a general Act of Indemnity, so that now nothing was expected here but Halcyon Days, but a Storm quickly arose which terribly shook not only this, but the Kingdom of England also, by one Perkin Warbeck's pretending himself to be Richard Duke of York, and second Son to King Edward IV. and so to have an undoubted Right to the Crown of England. He came over from France in­to Scotland and possest this King so far with a belief of his Right and the Ju­stice of his Cause, that he not only gave him the Lady Margaret, the Earl of Huntley's Daughter, for a Wife; but al­so raised an Army to defend his Cause, which took up some Years of his Reign little enough to his or the Kingdoms Commodity and Advantage. At last a Truce for some Years was agreed on between him and the King of England, and the Consequence of that was first orders for Perkin, of whom you may read at large in my Lord Bacon's History of Henry VII. to depart the Realm of Scot­land; then a Marriage between King James and the Lady Margaret, Henry VIIth's [Page 80] Daughter, and lastly a Peace between both Kings during their Lives. This Kings Reign is remarkable upon many accounts, which being not the scope of this Treatise, we designedly omit: But one passage I meet with in Lesley's Histo­ry of this Kingdom, which for the rarity of it I cannot omit, and hope the Rea­der will not think it an Impertinent Di­gression. About this time, says the afore­said Author, The King (to tell you a bu­siness that to this day is remembred with great Laughter among the Roman peo­ple) created a certain Italian, with whose Wit and Pleasant Conversation he was much taken, Abbot of Tungland; This man, thinking to magnifie his own parts, did on a certain time perswade the King, that he was so well skilled in the Secrets of Nature and more especially in the noble Science of Chimistry, that he could transmute any other Metal in­to Gold, if the King would please to bear the Charges thereof; But after much Time and Treasure spent, and long Expectation of this Glorious Effect, all proved Abortive, and came to nothing; so that the vain Braccadocio fell into great contempt both by the King and People, which grieved him very sore; so that he sets all his Wits on work how he might do somewhat that might [Page 81] regain his fame in the world, and at the same, recover the King's Favour. At last he gave out a Report, that he would by flying be in France, before the Kings Ambassadors, who were sent thi­ther and were then actually under sail, to pursue their Voyage; and that this might not be all talk without any Per­formance, he boldly appointed a Day and Place, which was Sterling from whence to begin his flight, the noise whereof brought (you may be sure) a great con­course of People together, among whom was the King himself.

When the Time was come, the man gets up to the Top of Sterling Castle, and having fastned the Wings which he had made of the Feathers of several Fowls, to his sides, he lifts himself in­to the Air, thinking to pursue his course. But alas, he came quickly down headlong to the ground, his Wings availing him nothing, whereupon the people, who knew not whether they should rather Re­buke his Presumption, or Pity his Mis­fortune, flocked about him, and asked him how he did, he made Answer that he had broken his Thigh-bone, and de­spaired of ever flying any more, at which they all laughed their fill: But this Ica­rus, to salve the matter, laid the fault of his flying wholly upon his Wings, [Page 82] because they were not made of Eagles Feathers and the like, but only of Poul­try which were not fit to cut the Air with flight, and which by a certain innate Virtue, operating according to the Na­ture of those Fowl, drew the Feathers downwards to the Dunghill where those Birds fed.

But to re-assume the Thread of our Story, things continued in a tollerable state of Tranquillity, till the death of Henry VII. the King's Father-in-law; but Henry VIII. a young, ambitious, and active Prince, had not long mounted the English Throne, when he makes Preparations to recover his Right in the Kingdom of France. The French King to fortifie himself as much as possible against the impending Storm, requir'd Aid of the King of Scotland; who, by his Embassadors, would have accommo­dated Matters, and perswaded both Kings to a Peace: But King Henry persisting in his Resolution, the Scot, won by French Promises of Money and Ammunition, joyns with them in League against England; and because the English Commissioners appoint­ed to accommodate the Differences be­tween both Nations, about some Irregu­larities and Depredations, committed up­on the Borders, would not come up to their Terms, James takes this occasion to send Lyon King at Arms to King Hen­ry, [Page 83] by this time besieging Terwin, with Letters of Complaints, commanding him, for want of satisfying the Contents of the said Letters, to denounce War against England. When Henry had read the Let­ters, and advised with his Council there­upon, he told the Herauld he would make him answer, If he would promise faithfully to declare the same to his Master; Lyon replied, Whatever his Ma­ster commanded him to say to others, that he was obliged to do, and would; but for the Com­mands of others to his Master, therein he de­sired to be excused, but added, your High­ness Letters that declare your Pleasure, I am willing to carry, tho' your Answer requires do­ing, and not saying, I mean, that you should immediately return home: The King sharp­ly retorted, I'll return at my own Pleasure to your Damage, and not at thy Master's Sum­mons; and so delivers him a Letter to carry to his Master, importing he had receiv'd his Full of frivolous Complaints, which had been sufficiently answer'd be­fore, sharply sets forth the baseness of the Scotch Nation, but says at the same time it was always their Ancestors custom, to in­vade his Dominions in his absence, which they never offered nor durst do while he was within the Land; but however that he had taken caution for his secu­rity, and would not desist from his pre­sent [Page 84] enterprize, which the Scotch King had nothing to do with, as being no Competent Judge (for so the words are) of so high Authority to require him in that behalf, &c. But before the Herault arrived, and the Letters could be deli­vered, King James had precipitated his own fall at Floddenfield.

For having dispatched Commissions for the raising of Forces, he determines to put himself at the head of them before they were fully Compleated; but first goes to a place called Limuch and there heard even Song, as they called it, where after he had entred the Chappel, came an old man to him, whose hair was somewhat of a yellow red hanging down over his Shouldiers, his Forehead high with Baldness, bare Headed, clad in a Blewish Garment with a white Girdle, and had a very Reverend Countenance, and said; ‘King I am sent to admonish thee that thou go not forward to the place which thou hast determined, which warning if thou dost despise, it shall succeed ill with thee, and all such as shall attend thee: Further I am Com­manded, to give thee Intelligence be­fore-hand, that thou eschew the famili­arity and Custom or Counsell of Wo­men, if thou do otherwise, it shall tend to thy Dishonour and Hurt:’ And when [Page 85] he had so said, he mingled himself with other Company, and when Pray­ers were over, and that the K. sought for him, he could by no means be found; for he was never seen after the delive­ry of this Message, which seemed the more strange, because that many who stood near him, and observing all he said, and intent to hear more from him, could not perceive his departure; of which Number David Linsey, a Person of known Virtue and approved Reputation, was one, who told me the same (saith Bu­chanan) of a most certain truth, or else I would have past it over for a Fa­ble, handed down to us by Common Fame.

But no premonitions from Heaven, nor Advises upon Earth could divert the Career of this willfull Prince, but on he goes towards Edenburg, and there takes a review of his Army, and hasti­ly marches towards the English Borders; takes in several lesser places, and Ra­vages the nighest parts of Northumber­land. In the mean time the King quite contrary to the premonition afore­said being ensnared with the Beauty of a Noble Captive, (she was Hern's Wife of Ford) neglected Military Discipline, and his Army lying idle, and in a Bar­ren Country where Provisions were ve­ry [Page 86] scarce; a great part of them in d [...]scontent, disband and forsake the Ser­vice; so that there were none but the Nobles with their Kindred and a few Tenants that staid behind: For the greater part were of opinion, they should not tarry any longer in a Coun­try that was so Poor, and withal, Plun­dered, but rather to Besiege Berwick, which they had left behind them; since the taking thereof alone would be much more Honourable and advantagious than all the adjacent Garrisons; and that the taking thereof would not be difficult, see­ing the Town and Castle were unpro­vided to make any considerable resist­ance. The King who supposed there was nothing too hard for his Arms, e­specially now the English were imploy­ed in the French Wars, and being buoy'd up by the flattery of his Courtiers, jud­ged he could do that easily in his re­turn; but while he lay loitering at Ford, came an English Herauld into his Camp, requiring him to appoint a day and place where both Armies might give Battle; whereupon the King calls a Councell of War, wherein the greatest part were of opinion that it was most advisable they should return home, least they might with so small a Force hazard the State of the whole Country, especially seeing [Page 87] they had already obtained sufficient Re­nown, Glory, and Riches, and fully satis­fied the League of Friendship made with the French; neither could there be any appearance of reason, that they who were now so much diminished in their num­ber, and so weakned with the Fatigues they had undergone, should now be ex­posed to so great a multitude of Eng­lish daily increasing with Re-inforce­ments; for it was Rumored then, that the Lord Thomas Howard was arrived in the English Camp with Six Thou­sand old Soldiers from before Tur­win.

And for the further inforcing here­of, it was moreover added, That if the King did depart, the English Army must necessarily seperate, and could not be drawn together that Year again, as be­ing to march from the remotest Parts of the Kingdom: But and if the King must needs fight, that then it were more advisable he should do it in his own King­dom, keeping the appointment both of the Time and Place, always in his own Power; But when the French Ambassa­dor and such Mercenary Courtiers as took French Pensions, opposed these Ar­guments, the King, who was eager for Battle and to hasten his own Ruin, was easily perswaded to wait for the Enemy, [Page 88] in that Place. In the mean time when the English did not advance and engage at the day appointed by the Herault; the Scotch Nobility laid hold of the op­portunity afresh to go to the King, be­fore whom they laid the matter home again; Alledging, That the reason why they declined Battle, was an Artifice of the Enemy only to gain time 'till all their Forces were come together, while the Scotch dwindled away more and more; and therefore it was high time they should have recourse to the like Pollicy, and since the Enemy failed of their word, it was no ways disgracefull to the Scots either to return into their own Country without giving them Bat­tle, or to Fight within their own Limits; of which Councel the first was infalli­bly the best, but if that were not approv­ed off, there was abundant reason for to execute the latter; for seeing that the River Till was not foardable for some Miles space, and could not be past by the Army but by one Bridge, there a few might be able to resist a great mul­titude; besides, if part of the English Ar­my were past the Bridge, the same might easily be broken, by Engines conveni­ently placed for that purpose, so as to obstruct the passage of the rest, to re­lieve them who of necessity must be cut [Page 89] to peices. But so was the King taken with his own Conceit, that you had as good have talked to a dead Man as to him, upon this head; And therefore he slightingly said, That if the English Army were an Hundred Thousand strong, he would Fight them. With which rash Answer the Nobility were very much displeas­ed.

Whereupon Archibald Dowglass, Earl of Angus, a Man that far excelled the rest of the Nobles, both in Years and Authority, endeavoured in a gentle O­ration to alter the King's Resolutions, enlarges upon and shews the reasonable­ness and advantage of the former Coun­sells given him by the Nobility; for he made it appear, that the King had been punctual in the League with France and gratified their Request, in that he had now turned the English Arms before bent against the French, against himself, and against his own Country; and had so ordered his own Affairs, that those great Armies should neither injure France, nor endamage Scotland, seeing they were not long able to keep the field in those cold Countries and a Barren Soyl, Un­furnished of necessaries for the support of Life through the Calamy of the late Wars, and which at best produced but little Corn; but Winter was drawing near [Page 90] which in those Northern parts was felt betimes. And (continued the Earl) as for the French Ambassadors urging of us to come to a Battle, I cannot think that should be looked upon as either new or strange by us, that a Foreigner who hath no respect to the publick good of this Kingdom, but to the private interest of his own Nation, should be so lavish of other Mens blood: And besides, his Re­quest is unreasonable and impudent; for he would have the Scots do that which the French King, a Person of the highest Prudence, thinks not fit to do for his own Kingdom and Honour; neither should the miscarriage of this Army be looked upon by him as a small loss, because they were not so numerous; for all those are here, who excell either in Virtue, Authority and Counsell; and if these be once lost, the surviving Commonalty will become an easy prey to the Conquerors. What, is it not at present safer and with­al more profitable to protract the War? For if Lewis thinks that the English can either be exhausted by Expences, or wearied with delay, what can be better, as to the present State of things, than for us to enforce the Enemy to divide their Forces, that we may keep one part of their Army to watch and look after our motion, making a continual shew of our [Page 91] readiness to make Incursions, and by put­ting of them under a constant apprehen­sion thereof, ease the burden of the French by our Labour and Vigilancy; and I think those men, who I fear, are more Valiant in Words than in Actions, have sufficiently Consulted for their Glory and Renown under which names they would couch their own temerity; for what could have been more honourable for the King, than to have rased so many strong Holds, wasted all with Fire and Sword, and to carry away so great Booty, that several Years Peace will not be able to reduce the Country to its former state; And what greater benefit can we expect from the War, than that amidst such clashing of Armor and noise of War, we should enjoy Rest with Wealth and Glory, to our greatest Praise and Com­mendation by refreshing our own Soul­diers, and to the ignominy and shame of the Enemy? For that sort of Victo­ry which is won more by Counsel than by Arms, is a property of Man, but more peculiarly agreeable to the Conduct of a great Captain, in regard that the Soldiers can claim no manner of share therein. Tho' all that were present dis­covered by their Faces, their Consent hereunto; Yet it made no impressions upon the King, who had solemnly Swore [Page 92] and was now fully bent to Fight, and so he Command Dowglass, if he was a­fraid of his life to return home. The Earl finding things thus precipitated through the Kings temerity, and foreseeing the dreadful Event, burst forth into Tears; and as soon as he was able to Speak, said, If the former course of my Life did not sufficiently Vindicate my Repu­tation from the opinion of Cowardice, I know of no other reasons whereby to purge my self; I am sure while this Body was able to endure the Toils of War and other Fatigues, I have never been sparing to imploy the same, for the Honour of my King and Good of my Country; But seeing my Counsells wherein alone I can now be useful, are despised, I'll leave my two Sons, who next my Country are dearest to me, and the rest of my Friends and Kindred, as a certain pledge of my good Will to­wards you and the publick good; and I pray unto God these my fears may prove False and Abortive, and that I may ra­ther be accounted a false Prophet, than that what I fear and seem to behold should come to pass. When he had thus spoken, he packs up his Baggage and De­parts; the rest of the Nobles seeing they could not draw the King to be of their mind, Judged it ought to be their [Page 93] next care seeing they were inferiour in number to the Enemy (for they had learn­ed by their Scouts that the English Army was six and twenty Thousand strong was to fortify themselves by taking advantage of the ground, and so to pitch their Camp on the adjacent Hill, which was hard of access and which they Fortify­ed almost round with Cannon; in the Rear they had Hills, from the Foot of which to the East was a Marsh that se­cured their Left Wing, and on their Right they had the River Till, with high Banks over which was a Bridge, not far from the Camp. The English when they found by their spies, that there was no approaching of the Scotch Camp without manifest danger, wheeled off from the River, and made as if they marched toward Berwick, and from thence streight to the adjacent part of Scotland to Ravage the Country, and a Rumour of such a design increased the suspicion thereof: Which Rumour was some Days before spread abroad, whe­ther rashly or purposely feigned by the the English, that they might decoy the Scots from their strong Holds down into the Plains. King James thinking that not to be endured, sets Fire to his Camp and Marched; The smoak blinded the English so as that they could not dis­cern [Page 94] the Enemy Marching; but at last both Armies came to Flodden Hills al­most unknown to one another. There the English March their Artillery over the Bridge and their Army past the Ford at Milsord, and so draw up their Army in Battalia, as the situation of the ground, would admit, but in two Bodies; seeming to have a design to cuff off the Scots Provision. In the first Ar­my the main Body was Commanded by the Lord Thomas Howard, Admiral, who not long before was come with a strong Re-inforcement to the Army; the Right Wing by Edmund Howard, and the Left by Marmaduke Constable. The other bo­dy was so posted as if they had been for reserves, and also drawn up in a tripartite division, the Right being Com­manded by Dacres, the Left by Stanley, and the Main Body by the Earl of Sur­rey, who was General of the whole Ar­my. The Scots made a forefold distri­bution of their Army, whereof the King himself Commanded the Main Body, Alexander Gordon and Alexander Humes the Right Wing, Mathew Stuart, Earl of Lennox, Campell, Earl of Argile the Left: And Hepborn with the rest of the No­bility of Lowthian, Commanded the reserves. Gordon begins the Battle and quickly routed the Left Wing of the [Page 95] English Army, but returning from the Chase he found the remainder of his Wing almost cut to pieces. For the left Wing Commanded by Lennox and Argile, being elated at their Success, fell on Pell-Mell without keeping their Ranks upon the Enemy, leaving their Ensigns behind-them: The French Ambassador doing all that ever he could to keep them back, as foreseeing, they rushed on headlong to their inevitable ruin; But the English stood the shock with un­daunted Bravery, and adding cun­ning to their Valour, wheeled a body of their Men about, which fell upon the Rear of this disorderly Rout and almost kill'd every Man of them. In the mean time the Main Body where the King was, with the reserves Commanded by Hepborn, sought with great obstinacy, but at last were Rout­ed, but night coming on hindred the pursuit. Next morning the Earl of Surrey sent out Dacres with a Party of Horse to learn Intelligence, who coming to the field of Battle and finding the Scotch Artillery without any Guard up­on them, and the greatest part of the slain unstripped, he acquaints the Ge­neral therewith; who sets his Army loose to ransack the Camp, and afterwards Celebrated the Victory with utmost Joy. And now we come to tell you of the [Page 96] Kings Fate himself: Our English Histo­rians generally agree that he was slain in this Battle, the Scots for the most part oppose it; Urging, that the Bo­dy which was rifled in the field and ta­ken to be his, was not so, but the Bo­dy of one Alexander Elsinstone, a young Gentleman resembling the King both in Visage and Stature, whom the King (that he might delude those that pur­sued him, and at the same time also with his own presence animate those that fought elsewhere) had caused with all Tokens of Royality to be Armed and Apparelled like himself: But (says my English Author Bishop Goodin) not to make use for an Argument the great number of Nobility that Guarded their true King and consequently that their Counterfeit ones fought elsewhere; Its manifest that his Body was known by many of the Prisoners, who certainly affirmed, that it could be no other than the King's, tho' by the Multitude of his Wounds it were very much disfigu­red; for his Neck was laid open in the midst thereof with a long Wound, his left Arm almost cut off in two several places, could scarce hang to his Shoul­der, and had been besides shot through several parts of his Body with Arrows; and this seems to have the greatest appear­ance [Page 97] of truth in it, tho' what Buchanan and others his Countrymen, alledge, is not improbable, viz. That after the King found the Battle encline to the English without any hopes of retriev­ing it, he passed the Tweed and near Kelso was slain by Humes's followers; it remaining uncertain, whether it was done by his Command, or that these Ruffians thinking to gratify the hu­mour of their Patron, were in hopes when the King was once cut off, they might transact what villany they pleas­ed impunedly, but if he survived, they were in great apprehensions of being called to a severe account for their tardiness during the Battle. To which they also add other conjectures; that the very night after the Battle, the Monastery of Kelso was seised by one Carr a confident of Hume, and the Ab­bot chasheered, which, its likely, he durst not have attempted, if he had known the King had been alive: But these things are so uncertain, says Bucha­nan, that when Hume was afterward called to an Account, and Tryed for the Fact, by the Earl of Murrey, the King's base Son; it came to no­thing, they were not able to prove it upon him, but withal adds, that [Page 98] Lawrence Faliser, a Person of integri­ty, but then a Lad and spectator of of the Action did often affirm to him, that he had seen the King on Horse Back pass the Tweed; and hence ma­ny took occasion to report (which last­ed many years) that the King was a­live, and would appear in due time, after he had pay'd his vow of go­ing to Jerusalem to view the Holy Se­pulcre. But this savours two much like the legendary Story of Arthur of old, and of Charles Duke of Burgundy not many Years before, of whom they re­lated such another Tale; But to re­turn and take for granted, that he di­ed (as before noted) upon the place of Battle, his Body being enclosed in a Sheet of Lead was brought into England, and by the Kings Command laid in some bye Vault or Corner with­out any Funeral rites, he saying, That it was a due punishment for one who had perjuriously broken his League; So that Death it self had not put a Period to his misfortune; Tho' otherwise he was a Prince of great perfections both of Body and Mind, and endued with most of those Royal Virtues that are necessary for the equal poize of a Scep­ [...]er, which caused that sharp, but true [Page 99] saying, to drop from the Pen of a learned Author upon, him that he pe­rished Non suo, sed Stuartorum Fato.

The loss of James IIII. in this man­ner,James Stuart V. began his Reign Feb. 14th. 1513. seemed to carry with it the most dreadfull presages of Confusion and Mi­sery that ever threatned any Country, for he left his Queen Margaret and two Sons behind him, the Eldest where­of James V. that succeeded him in the Kingdom being not fully two years old; most of the Nobility who bore any thing of Wisdom and Authority before them, being slain in the fore­said Battle, and the major part of such as survived, by reason of their Youth, or Incapacity of their mind, very unfit to meddle with matters of State; especially in so teachy a time as that was: And those who were left alive of the better sort who had any thing of Prudence, through Ambition and Covetousness, abhorring all Coun­sels, tending to Peace and Concord. However something must be done for the Publick weal and as the fittest ex­pedient for a settlement, a Parliament was convened at Sterling, who Proclaim­ed James V. King, and according to the Deseased King's Will; The Queen [Page 100] was constituted Regent of the King­dom so long as she remained a Wid­dow; But she soon after Marrying Archembald Dowglass Earl of Angus a young Gentleman, who for Lineage, Comliness, and other Accomplishments might be ranked amongst the prime Nobility of Scotland, lost her Office and Authority, and this occasioned a great feud among the Nobility. The Dowglassian Party endeavoured to have the Queen continued in the Office; Alledging, That this was the way to have Peace with England, which was not only advantagious, but highly ne­cessary for them at that time, as mat­ters stood with them: But the Humes, whereof Alexander Hume Warden of all the Marches and a very Potent Man, was head, making up the ad­verse faction, under pretence of publick Good, and that it was against the old Laws of the Kingdom to have a Wo­man, however otherwise dignifyed, to be Regent, stiffly opposed the Queen and her Adherents; so that at last af­ter they had passionately struggled a­bout the choise, either out of wick­ed Ambition or secret Envy; They past by all that were there present and incline to choose John Duke of Albany Son of Alexander, (of whom [Page 101] we have spoken before) Brother of James III. and who lived then in good Repute in France, from whence soon after he arrived in Scotland. The Duke was ignorant of the old Customs of the Country, as having been bred abroad all his Days, which John Hepburn a Crafty Knave and one who had contested with Andrew Fore­man, about the Archbishoprick of St. Andrew's a little before, well obser­ving, makes it his business to insinu­ate himself into the Regents Favour, under pretence of informing him of the Laws and Manners of the Land, but in Truth and Reality that he might advance himself upon the wrack and ruine of others. And to this End he tells the Regent, there were at that time three Factions in the King­dom, the one headed by Archibald, Dowglass, Earl of Angus, the Queens Husband, who was wonderfully Popu­lar, and upon the account of his Alliance with England, and his own Personal and Hereditary Merits, bore a Spirit too big for a private Man. A­lexander Hume was the next, whose Power and Interest was so great, that there was a necessity of repressing of him in time; Foreman his former Com­petitor was the third, who, said he [Page 102] 'twas true, was not to be feared up­on the account of Kindred and No­bleness of descent, yet by reason of his great Wealth he would make a great Accession of Strength to what Party soever he inclined: But to this last Part the Governor gave little heed, as knowing it to be an invidious ac­cusation of Hepburn proceeding from the noted feuds between Foreman and himself. But the suspicion of Hume sunk deeper into the Regents mind, which the other quickly perceiving, he falls in for his own security with the interest of the Queen and her Husband, and lamenting the danger the young King might be in, if he should fall into the Regents Hands, who was next Heir and bent to tran­slate the Kingdom to himself; he per­swades the Queen to retire with the King to her Brother into England: But these Consultations were not so secretly carried on, but that the Go­vernor had notice thereof, who being an Active Man, hastens with all his Forces to Sterling and quickly took the Castle with the King and Queen in it; and so takes the poor King from the Mothers Bosom, appointing him to be kept and managed as he pleased. Up­on which Hume and his Brother Wil­liam [Page 103] flee into England, and the Queen with her Husband soon followed them▪ the Regent was concerned at their departure, sets all his Engines at work to procure their return, which Dowglass the Queens Husband and the Humes soon after did; but Alexander Hume contrary to many large pro­mises, being Summoned to appear be­fore the Assembly of Estates, refused to come, and thinking himself ag­grieved, encouraged Tories to commit great Outrages in the Neighbourhood; for which being like to be called to an Account by an Armed Power, he was perswaded to surrender himself, so was Committed to the Custody of James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, his Si­sters Husband, at Edenburg, with a charge that himself should be esteemed a Traytor if he suffered him to escape. But Hume perswades Hamilton to make his escape with him, and to make a Party so as to enter upon the Govern­ment himself he being the next Heir after the former Kings Children, in regard he was born of a Sister of James III. and therefore it was more Just he should enjoy the next place to the King then John, who, its true, was the Son of a Brother, but born in Exile, and in all other things a [Page 104] perfect Foreigner, and one that could not as much as speak the Scottish Language. With them joyns John Stuart, Earl of Lennox, with many of his followers, but the Earl was soon after reconciled to the Governor and it was not long before Hamilton and Hume returned al­so to Court and had an amnesty for all that was past. Hume and his Bro­ther in a little while after upon some new suspicion the Governor had of them, but mostly, as 'twas thought, upon the Calumny of John Hepborn a­forsaid (their implacable Enemy) were Seized, Condemned and Exe­cuted, the people looking on, and judg­ing they had hard measure. The Re­gent having brought things into a tolerable state of Settlement, Con­stitutes seaven Deputies, whereof the Earl of Angus was one, and goes o­ver into France where he staid five years, which were full of rapine, scuffles, and inquietude, but I do not find but that the young King continued all this while in the same hands. But the Regent finding that in his absence the Dowglasses had mightily prevailed, he in order to prevent further seditions, sends the Earl of Angus, head of that Family into France, and another of the name to Rome, who died by the [Page 105] way; and next Year, after his return, raised an Army to invade England, in Favour of the French: But the Nobi­lity opposed his Design, and so he was forced to Disband, and quickly upon that, goes into France again. The English Army in the mean time enter Scotland, carry all before them, and take Jedburg, and endeavour by their Navy to intercept the Regent in his return, but herein they failed, and he with the followers he brought with him from France, Compleats a­nother Army, actually invades Eng­land, and Besieged the Castle of Work: But finding a vigorous resistance, and withal Winter approaching, breaks up his Siege. The Spring following, he calls an Assembly of the Nobles, tells them the causes why he must needs go again into France, but pro­mised them a speedy return, yet he never did: For the young King up­on Advice from his Mother, and most of the Nobility, enters upon the Go­vernment himself, and so vacates the Regents power. And now the myste­ry of iniquity begins to work, for tho' the King had assumed the Royal Pow­er, yet he and his Kingdom shall be Subject to the Will of others, as much and more than before. You [Page 106] have heard how Archibald Dowglass had been sent by the Regent into France, who hearing of this alterati­on at home, sent one Simon Penning, an active Person and one in whom he confided very much, to the King of England, to perswade him, to let him to return home through his Dominions, which was granted; for it seems King Henry was well enough pleased at the diminution of the Authority of so active a Person as the Duke of Albany, and at the change made in Scotland, so that the Earl was en­tertained by him in a very Courteous manner, and dismist Honourably. But his return did variously affect the minds of the Scots, for seeing all the Publick business now transacted by the Conduct of the Queen and the Earl of Arran, a great many of the Nobility, the head whereof were John Steward, Earl of Lennox, and Campell Earl of Argyle, taking it in very ill part that they were not ad­mitted to any part of the publick Administration, received the Earl of Angus with high expressions of Joy, as hoping by his aid, either to gain over the Power of the adverse fa­ction to themselves, or at least to a­bate their pride. On the other hand, [Page 107] the Queen, who was alienated from her Husband, was much concerned at his arrival, and sought by all means to undermine him: Hamilton also out of the relicts of his own Hatred was none of his Friend; besides he feared, least Dowglass, who, he knew, would not be content with a second place, should mount the saddle, and make him truckle under, so that he strain'd to maintain his own Dignity, and opposed him with all his might. They kept themselves therefore with­in Edenburg Castle, and tho' they had seen very well, that many of the Nobility affected alterations, yet considing in the strength of the place and the Authority of the Kingly Name, (a sorry defence) they thought them­selves secure from all force. In the mean time the opposite party held a great meeting of the Nobles, where they chose three of their own Facti­on to be Guardians both of King and Kingdom, and who should they be, but the Earl of Angus, John Steward Earl of Lennox, and Colen Campell Earl of Argyle; And using great Cele­rity in their business, first they passed the Forth, and caused James Beaton, a shrewd Man, to joyn with them; who perceiving the strength of the [Page 108] party, durst not stand out. From thence they went to Sterling, and Conferred all publick Offices and im­ployments upon such as were of their own gang only, and afterwards di­rected their march for Edenburg, which they entred without any resistance. For it was not Fortifyed at all, and im­mediately fell to work with the Castle, about which they cast a small Trench and Besieged it. The Defendants who had made no Provision for a Siege surrender'd up both it, themselves, King and all. All were sent away but the King, who now had more espe­cially three new Masters before named, and who take the whole weight of the Government upon their Shoulders. They agreed among themselves, that they would manage it by turns, each of them attending four Months a piece upon the King, who was their prey: But this Conjunction was neither hearty nor of long duration. Dowg­lass, his turn was first served, who brought the King into the Archbi­shop of St. Andrew's House, and made use of all the Bishop's Furniture and other Accomodations as if they had been his own. (for he had a little be­fore revolted from their Faction) and that the Earl might engage the King [Page 109] the more, he suffered him to wal­low in all kind of sensual Delights: But yet he obtained not his End nei­ther, in regard the Kings Domesticks were corrupted by the adverse facti­on, headed by the Queen and the Earl of Arran.

It was not long e're Dowglass outed his two Colleagues, and assumed the whole Regency to his own hands, distributing Civil and Ecclesiastical Preferments un­to his kindred and followers at plea­sure, to the injury of diverse others, who had no power to resist; The Earl of Argyle did indeed voluntarily withdraw himself from the Trium­virate: And Lennox tho' he follow­ed the King, yet finding the Dowglas­ses share all Beneficial Offices amongst themselves, he gave many Testimo­nies of his [...]islike, and that his mind was quite alienated from them. But they confident of their power, slighted the Reports and ill will of others. In the mean time the King, tho' he were used more indulgently then was fit for him, that so he might be the longer kept in Subjection unto their Wills, yet notwithstanding by little and lit­tle growing weary of their Govern­ment, and being also alienated from [Page 110] them by the accusations of his own Domesticks, who charged them some times truly, and sometimes otherwise, always interpreting their doubtfull A­ctions in the worse sence; where­upon he held secret Caballs with such as he could trust, concerning vindi­cating himself into his Freedom and Liberty. And having understood the dissatisfa [...]ion conceived by the Earl of Lennox against the proceedings of the Dowglasses, he stuck not to open his mind and make him privy of his De­signs; And while they were consulting about the Time, Place, and Manner, of Accomplishing the same; Dowglass was making divers expeditions against the Country, Rovers but with no great Success, so that at length about the End of July he resolved to carry the King into Tiv [...]otdale as supposing his presence would be advantageous, to strike a terror into the licentious. Thus an Assembly being held at Jed­burg, all the heads of the chief Fa­milies round about were called toge­ther by the Kings order, and Com­manded to apprehend those Criminals every one within his own precincts, of which they had then a list given them: Thus, while the minds of all were merry and Jocund, they who had a [Page 111] Design to free the King from the pupillage of the Dowglasses, thought that a good opportunity to effect it [...] ▪ because one Walter Scot being not far from Jedburg, had great Clanships in the Countries thereabouts and had engaged in their interests. And thus they laid their project; Walter was to invite the King to his House, and there he was to remain with his own good liking till greater forces came in, at the noise of the thing: But their design by what followed seemed to have been discovered either by chance or some private intimation; where­upon the King was carried back to Mulross, yet Walter, was not disco­vered, but proceeded on strait in his Journey to the King. When he was a little way off, the frightful News was brought to the Dowglasses, that Wal­ter ▪ was at hand, Well Armed him­self and accompanied by a great Troop of Armed Men; so that there was no Question to be made, but he be­ing a factions man, and withal Vali­ant and audacious, did intend some mischief, insomuch that they present­ly ran to their Arms. Dowglass tho inferior in number, yet knowing what Men he had of his own, were choise ones, and that he had besides seve­ral [Page 112] valiant Persons of the Family of the Carrs and Humes in his train; with John Hume and Andrew Car their prin­cipalls, he did resolved to give them Battle. When they were just ready to engage; Dowglass Commands George Hume to alight from his Horse, and to manage his part in the fight, who answered, he would not: No not if the King himself Commanded him. This struck some damp upon the Dowglas­ses, however to make a Virtue of necessity they fell on with very great Fury, as men who had their King, and who was the price of the Combat, to be spectator; the Earl of Lennox standing by the King all the while, and not striking a stroke. At last Walter Scot happening to be wounded, his men began to give ground, and at length fled out-right; but the loss of Andrew Car, a Person of singular eminency did very much allay the joy of the Dowglasses for this Victory, and the carriage of Lennox, heightned their Jealousy of him, so that he thought it advisable to leave the Court; and leave the King still a Captive and without hopes of Releasement. The Dowglassians perceiving themselves sub­ject to the envy of many, endeavour­ed to strengthen their faction by the acquisition of more friends, and to [Page 113] that end, they prudently make up the old breach betwixt Them and the Hamiltons, a Family abounding in Wealth, Number, and Greatness, and admitted them into a share of the Go­vernment. On the other hand the Earl of Lennox was highly in favour of most People, and having privately ob­tained the King's Letters to most of the Nobility, who he thought would have kept his Councel, he mightily strenthened his Party; Wherefore in a convention of his faction at Sterling, where James Beaton and several other Bishops were present, he openly pro­pounded to them the design of asser­ting the King to Liberty, which was Unanimously agreed to, tho' the day appointed for mustering their Forces was not yet come: Yet hearing that the Hamiltons were Assembled at Lin­lithgow to intercept their march, it was thought adviseable to attack them, before they joyned with the Dowglas­ses, and accordingly Lennox with what present force he had with him marched directly towards them. But the Himiltons having got intelli­gence, that the Earl would march out of Sterling that day early in the morn­ing, had called the Dowglassians out of Edenburg to their assistance before: But the King to favour Lennox as well [Page 114] as his own Liberty, as he thought, did, besides other obstacles, somewhat [...]e­tard them, by pretending himself not well, so that he got up later out of his Bed that day then ordinary. And besides, marched very slowly, and up­on the way would often turn aside to ease nature, as if he had been troubled with a Lask: And when George Dowglass had in vain flattered him to make more hast, at last he broke forth in these menacing words, say­ing, ‘Sir, Rather then our Enemies should take you from us, we will lay hold on your body, and if it be rent in pieces, we will be sure to retain one part thereof.’ Which words made such an impression upon his mind that when the Dowglasses were banished some Years after, and that he had some inclination to recall the rest of them, yet he could not endure to hear any body speak of a Reconci­liation with this George: The Hamil­tons betwixt fear of the Enemies ap­proaching, and hope of aid at hand, had set themselves in array at the Bridge of the River Aven, which is about a mile from Linlithgow, and placed a small Guard upon the Bridge to secure the Pass, and drew up the rest of their Forces at the brow of the Hi [...], which they [Page 115] knew the Enemy must pass: Lennox seeing that this passage over the Bridge was stopped, Commanded his Men to pass over a small River, a little above by the Nunnery, called Manu­ell, and so to beat the Hamiltonians from the Hills, before Dowglass's For­ces had joyned them. The Lennoxi­ans advanced towards the Enemy tho­rough thick and thin, but were much incommoded by the others throwing of Stones down the Hills upon them, and when they came to handy strokes the word was given that the Dowglasses were at hand; and indeed they from their march ran in hastily into the Fight, and soon carried the Day, so that Lennox's Men were grievously wound­ed and put to flight. The Victory was used by the Hamiltonians with much cruelty, and among the Num­ber of the slain, was the Earl of Len­nox himself, highly lamented by all Persons, and more especially, by the King himself, who now saw no vi­sible hopes of ever retrieving his Li­berty, and could not choose but see, how fatal his presence was to all that attempted it.

Now the Dowglasses are Lords pa­ramount and carry all before them, those that had taken up Arms against [Page 116] their King, as they phrased it, for fear of a Tryal, were forced to com­pound with them for money, or to put themselves into the Clanships of the Hamiltons or themselves; and such as refused they utterly ruined, yea and the Queen her self thought fit to retire to a place of Secrecy least she should fall into the hands of her Husband whom she hated. But fury abating with time, and the Dowglasses being severally intent upon other mat­ters and concerns, and secure, as they thought as to the Kings Departure from them, gave him at last an op­portunity to gain his Liberty, which all the former attempts of his Friends could not effect for him. They believed now, that his mind was fully Recon­ciled to them by those Blandishments and Immoderate Pleasures they had indulged him in, and besides, thought that if he were minded to remove, there was no faction strong enough to oppose them, neither was there any strong Garrison whither to retire but only to Sterling Castle, which was al­lotted to the Queen for her Habita­tion; And then it was deserted for a time by the Queens Officers when she hid her self for fear of the Dow­glasses, and when the tumult was a lit­tle [Page 117] appeased, 'twas somewhat Fortifi­ed, but rather for a shew then any real defence. The King having ob­tained some small relaxation, saw that this must be his only refuge, and and therefore he deals privately with his Mother to exchange that Castle and the Lands adjoining for other Lands, as convenient for her; and providing all other requisites, as private as he could, the Dowglasses not being so in­tent, as formerly in their watch over him, he retired by night with a small retinue from Falkland to Sterling, whi­ther he soon sent for some of the Nobles to come to him, and others hearing the News came of their own accord, so that now he seemed suffi­ciently secured against all force. Then he issued out a Proclamation that the Dow­glasses should abstain from all the Ad­ministration of publick affairs, and that none of their Dependants should come within 12 miles of the Court up­on pain of Death. This Proclamati­on was quickly seconded with an As­sembly of the Nobles at Edenburg, where they had such Terms offered them, as they would not accept, whereupon their Offices were taken from them; and themselves Summoned to attend the Parliament at Edenburg. But they know­ing the danger, Endeavoured to seise [Page 118] upon Edenburg, and dissolve the Par­liament, but failed in the attempt. So that th [...] Earl of Angus retired to his Castle of Tan [...]allon; and the Parliament proceeded in their business, and the Earl with his Brothers, Relations, and in­timate Friends were out Lawed. They on the other hand being enraged at these proceedings and seeing all hopes of Pardon cut off, betook thems [...]lves to open force, and Committed all sorts of Outrages upon the Lands of their Enemies and with their Horse advan­ced many times to the very Gates of Edenburg, so that the City was almost besieged by them. The King think­ing to unroost them all at once, raises Forces and lays siege to Tantallon Ca­stle, but all that ever he could do, could not take it: At length the Dow­glasses finding the Hamiltons and the rest of their Friends fail them, found it ne­cessary to retire for their better safe­ty into England, from whence came Ambassadors shortly after about settling a firm Peace between both Kingdoms and with the same labour to procure the Restitution of the Dowglasses. King James was mighty desirous to have Tantallon Castle in his Power, and at the same time his mind as averse to the Restoration of the Dowglasses, and for that reason the matter was convass­ed [Page 119] too and fro for some Days, and no temper of Accommodation could be found out: But at length they came to this; That Tantallon Castle should be surrendered to K. James, a Truce be­tween both Nations for five Years, and the other demands in referrence to the Dowglasses he promised to grant under his Signet. When the Castle was surrendered according to Compo­sition, the King failed of his Royal Word, and not one of the Dowglas­ses were permitted to return; which was foul prevarication in him, and a stain that will not easily be blotted off his Memory, seeing this was a prin­cipal matter in the Agreement and the Equivalent for the Castle. The Truce about half expired, was infringed by a War between both Nations: which the French Ambassador endeavoured to compose, and about the same time, James transacts with the French King and afterward with the Emperor about a Match, which was like to endan­ger his life; For the Hamiltons almost confident of the Succession, yet look­ing upon it a long way about to stay either for Fortuitous or Natural dan­gers to befall him, and fearfull in case he married, he might have Lawfull Is­sue of his own, studied to hasten his Death by Treachery. a fair oppor­tunity [Page 120] was offered them to effect it by his Night-walkings to his Misses, having but one or two in Company, but however it were, they ne'er could put their purpose in Execution. The Emperor's offers were rejected and at last he went over himself into France to seek him a Wife, and brings over along with him Magdelen Daughter to Francis the French King, but she died soon after and had no issue. The Death of Magdalen did but whet his desires to get him another Wife, and to that End he dispatched Cardinal David Bea­ton and others into France to treat of a Match between himself and Ma­ry of the House of Guise, Widdow to the Duke of Longeville, by whom he had two Sons and a Daughter, of whom you'll hear by and by. But before her arrival in Scotland, John Forbes a young Gentleman of a great Family was ac­cused of a Design he had many years before, to Assassinate the King: It was believed to be a malitious prosecution of the Huntley's, but Condemned he was and lost his head; and a few Days after, came on another Tryal, which on the account of the Family of the accused Parties, the Novelty of it, and the heinousness of the punishment was very Lamentable and Tragical, and plainly shews the Kings mind was cruel [Page 121] and implacable. Joan Dowglass, Sister to the Earl of Angus, of whom we have said so much, and Wife to John Lyons Lord of Glames; also her Son and lat­ter Husband, Gilespy Campell, John Ly­ons Kinsman to her former Husband, and an old Priest were accused for endeavouring to poyson the King. All these tho' they lived continually in the Country far from the Court, and their Friends and Servants could not be brought to witness any thing against them, yet were put on the rack, to extort a Confession from them, and so were Condemned and shut up in Edenburg Castle. Joan Dowglass was burnt alive, with great Commiseration of all the Spectators; The Nobleness both of her self and Husband did much affect the beholders: Besides she was in the vigour of her youth, much celebra­ted for her rare Beauty, and in her ve­ry punishment she shewed a manlike Fortitude. But that which people were more concerned for, was, that they thought the enmity against her Brother who was banished, did her more pre­judice then her own objected Crime. Her Husband endeavoured to escape out of the Castle of Edenburg; but the Rope being too short to let him down to the foot of the Rock, brake almost all the bones of his body with the fall, and so [Page 123] ended his Days. Their Son, a young Man and of greater Innocent simplici­ty, then to have the suspicion of such a wickedness justly charged upon him, was for all that shut up a Prisoner in the Castle; And the accuser of all these, William Lyons by name, afterwards per­ceiving, that so eminent a Family was like to be utterly ruined by his false Information, Repented, when it was too late, and confessed his offence to the King. Yet so bloody was he (an in­stance I think hardly to be parallelled in all the records of time) that it did not prevent the Execution of the Condem­ned or hinder their Estates from being Confiscate; and the aforesaid young Gentleman was not discharged from his Imprisonment and Restored to his Inhe­ritance till after the King's Death which is now upon the Wing. But as we have given you the Tragical part of his past life in all the Circumstances of them, we shall depeint unto you all the concur­rent causes of his Tragical and Untime­ly Death and to that End; we are ne­cessitated to recount some few things to you that in order of time precede; and you must note, That King Henry VIII. having upon the account of his Divorce from Queen Katherine, Proclaimed him­self head of the Church, and utterly disclaimed the Pope's Authority in Eng­land, [Page 124] he thereby contracted great en­mity not only from Rome, but also from Spain and the Empire; Wherefore to strengthen himself against any Combi­nation, that he expected to be made a­gainst him, he was desirous to entertain a strict amity with his Nephew, James V. of Scotland; and to that End directs Ambassadors to him, inviting him to a Conference at York, whither Henry of­fered to come and meet him: Alledging, That by such an interview, matters might be better concerted for the mutual Inte­rest of both Kingdoms. K. James after a serious Deliberation, returns Answer, he would attend his Unkle at the Time and Place appointed; who thereupon made very great preparations to Entertain him with utmost solemnity▪ But the Scotch Clergy apprehensive▪ least their King through his Unkles Perswasions and Example, might be wrought upon to shake off the Pope's Authority in Scot­land, as he had done in his own Domi­nions; Resolve to do the utmost of their endeavours to prevent the intend­ed interview, and so mustering up all their Forces, by themselves and the Kings minions and flatterers, acquaint him with the evil C [...]nse [...]uence of his go­ing to England; shew, how King James I. had been kept Prisoner in England, how ill the French, their old Confederates, [Page 124] and the Emperor would take it at his hands; That King Henry was excom­municate, that a dangerous Heresy had overspread not only the greatest part of that Kingdom, but had infected e­ven the King himself; That many of his own Nobility were favou­rers of the said Heresy, which not­withstanding if he took care timously to suppress, it would be of mighty ad­vantage to him, and he might very much increase his revenue by their E­states, a list of whose names they pre­sented to him which he put in his Poc­ket, thinking it a very profitable propo­sal and therefore with all expedition to be put in Execution.

The Lord Grang his Treasurer, and who secretly favoured the Reformation was then much in his favour, and to him the King shews the foresaid List, telling him what great advantage he would make of it, whereat the Trea­surer smiled, and withall desired leave to speak his mind freely; upon which the King drew his Sword, and merily said to him; I le kill thee if thou speak against my profit: Then the Treasurer began to set before him at large the various troubles of his Reign while in minority, and what an hand the Clergy had in all the disorders; that he had not been long a free Prince; And that though [Page 125] his Majesty had done very much in th [...] time, in setling the Highlands and the Borders; yet desired him to consider of what a dangerous consequence it might be if his Nobility should get in­telligence, that some greedy fetches had been insinuated to him, under pretence of Heresie to dispoile them of their Lives and Inheritances; And there­by endanger his own Estate, at the in­stance of those whose Estates were in danger, and who would hazard him and his to save their own: I mean (con­tinued the Treasurer) the Prelates, who are afraid least your Majesty accor­ding to the Example of the King's of England and Denmark, and other Princes of the Empire, should make the like Reformation among them; and there­fore they are clearly against your having any familiarity with the King of Eng­land, or to have your Affairs so settled as to give you leisure to look into and reform the abuses of the Church. Then he went on and shewed him, how the Revenues of the Crown were wasted, and the vast Estates of the Clergy, their addictedness to the Pope, their sly car­riage in insinuating themselves into all secrets of State; the wisdom of the Ve­netians in that particular in excluding the whole Levitical Order from their Senate-house; the gross abuses of the [Page 126] Church of Rome; the scandalous lives of the Scotch Clergy; and last of all, urged how dishonourable and dangerous it would be to his Majesty not to keep his word with the King of England, who was a valiant Prince, and of an high stomach, and appeared for the time to have an upright meaning, his occasions pressing him thereto. And that having but one only Daughter, and being him­self grown fat and corpulent, there were but small hopes of his having any more Children, and that therefore it was his undoubted interest to hold a good correspondence with him, being his Sisters Son, nearest of Blood, and ablest to maintain and unite the whole Island of Britain. That the detention of King James I. in England, was a far different case, and desired him to con­sider what bad success the King his Fa­ther had, in making War against the K. of England his Brother; That that was but too manifestly felt by all the Subjects, and that little better was to be looked for if a new and unnecessary War were begun by his refusing to be at the in­tended meeting at York. This Speech was sufficient to convince him, had not his Stars inclined him otherwise, as his true interest to conform himself to the Will of his Uncle King Henry. How­ever, for the present he was mightily [Page 127] pleased with it, and seemed resolved to follow th [...] Treasurers advice; And at his first meeting with the Prelates, who [...]arried then a very great sway in the Country, he could not contain himself any longer, when they came to him, hoping to find their Plots put in excuti­on: But after many sharp words and ex­postulations, that they should advise him to use such cruelty upon so ma­ny Noble Men and Barons, to the en­dangering of his own repose, he said; Wherefore gave my Predecessors so many Lands and Rents to the Kirk? was it to maintain Hawks, Dogs, and Whores for a Company of Idle Priests? The K. of England Burns, the K. of Denmark Beheads you, I shall stick you with this Whinyard; And thereupon whips out his Dagger, which made them all scour out of his presence with trembling hearts; the King decla­ring himself, resolved to keep his promise aforesaid with his Unkle, esteeming it now both his Honour and Interest so to do▪

This procedure of the King struck a terrible damp upon the Prelates Spi­rits, who found themselves now in a ve­ry desperate state; However, not to be wanting to themselves and cause, they began again to re-assume some Courage, and enter upon Consultation how to gain the King back again to their bow; [Page 128] and knowing that money was a bait that seldom failed, and would be very likely to catch him, they make an of­fer in the first place to pay him yearly out of the Rents of the Church, the sum of Fifty Thousand Crowns for the maintenance of some Regular Troops, besides, the ordinary Subjects which o­beyed his Proclamation, in case the King of England made War upon Scot­land, upon the King's failure to keep the appointment at York: Yet they con­cluded, that unless the matter was pro­posed and favourably interpreted to the King by such as had his Ear, that would not do the business. Wherefore they made very liberal Gifts unto the K. Familiar Servants with an Additional promise to Oliver Sinclar, that they would procure him to be advanced to great Honours, and made Ge­neral of the whole Army against Eng­land, in case King Henry intended to make War against their Nation, which they affirmed he neither would, nor durst do, having already so many Irons in the fire. Having laid this project, they proceed to put it in Execution, and so communicated the same to the Mi­nions of the Court, which was cheer­fully agreed to by them, who by their vile flattery obtained the greatest fa­vour: But the chief bait they laid for the [Page 129] King and wrought their Ends by, was by alluring of pretty Women to him; each striving to be the first that should advertise him, whose Daughter such an one was, and how she might be obtain­ed: But the Treasurers presence, whom they feared and knew to be a man of Resolution, very much obstructed their Designs, wherefore a convenient op­portunity was to be attended for in his absence from Court, which happened not long after. For the King had given the Ward and Marriage of Kelley in the County of Angus, to his second Son, and he went thither to take possession thereof: Thereupon they fall to work, make their proposals to the King, which were stoutly backed by Oliver Sinclar and such of the Clergy as had best ac­quaintance at Court, and especially at the time when they gratifyed his Lust with mens Wifes and Maidens as before noted; and with all this oyling they found him at last pretty plyable, and this induced them to lay hold of the opportunity to ruin the Treasurer, whom they suspected to be the only Remora of their whole Design: And therefore they lay before him, how that he was turned Heretick, and had always a new Testament in English in his Pocket; and besides, that through his Majesties fa­vour he was grown so high and so proud [Page 130] that there was no enduring of him; but withal so extream covetous, that he was the unfitest man alive for that Office; and overbold for procuring of the King the Ward of Kelley for his second Son, which was worth Twenty Thousand Pounds. But to this the King Answered, That he looked upon his Treasu­rer to be a plain honest Gentleman, that he loved him so well, at that he would give him again the said Ward and Marriage for a Word of his Mouth. The Prior of Pit­tenweem, a cunning Fox, replies, Sir, the Heiress of Kelley is a jolly fair Lass, and I dare venture my life, that if your Majesty will send for her presently, he will refuse to send her.

But the King affirmed still the contra­ry, till at last they procured him to send actually for the young woman, and the Prelates and their faction contrived it so that the said Prior of Pittenweem should carry the Letter, and Conduct the young woman back to the King. But when he came, the Treasurer who knew him to be his deadly Enemy, re­fused to deliver her; Alledging, the said Prior to have been all his days a vile Whore-master, having deflowred several Virgins, and so thought him un­fit for such a charge. This was what the Prior wanted, and so very Joyfully he returns with the Answer to the King, to [Page 131] whom together with his wicked as­sociates he handled the matter with that finess and industry, that he rendered the Treasurer very obnoxious to him, and far as that he granted a Warrant to commit him into Custody within Eden­burg Castle, which they forgot not to do as soon as ever he came to Court. But the Treasurer suspecting some e­vi [...] practises against him during his ab­sence, thought no way so proper and effectuall for his security, as to get with all diligence into the Kings presence, which notwithstanding all their Con­spiracies, he effected, and found him at Supper; But when he came there, the King looked down, and would nei­ther speak to him nor know him, where­at he was not a little concerned: How­ever he would not put the matter up so, but advanced nearer the Kings Per­son, and said, Sir, What offence have I done, who had so much of your Favour when I parted from you with your permission; The King Answered, Why did you refuse to send me the Maiden whom I wrote for, and gave despightfull Language to him I sent for her? Sir, said he, there is none about your Majesty dare avow such a thing to my face; As for the Maiden, I told the Prior, that I was well enough to be the Messenger my self to convey her to your Majesty, but thought him an unmeet Person, whom I [Page 132] kn [...]w to be a lover of Women and the great­est deflowrer of Wives and Maidens in Scot­land: Then the King said, Hast thou then brought the Gentlewoman with thee? Yes Sir, said he; Alas, saith the King, They have told me so many lies of thee, that they have got a Warrant from me to com­mit thee to Prison, but I shall mend it with a contrary Command. Then said the Treasurer lamentingly, My life or Im­prisonment is but a small matter, but it breaks my heart that the world should hear of your Majesties facility; For he had heard, that during his absence they had caused the King to send to England, and to give over the designed inter­view at York. The Prelates having gained this point, they jog the King forwards to prosecute the reformed, and get James Hamilton Bastard Brother to the Earl of Arran and a fit Instru­ment for their purpose to be Judge in matters of Religion. About the same time came into Scotland one James Ha­milton, Cousin-German to the foresaid James, who after long banishment, at length got leave to return to his Coun­try for a time, to prosecute a Law-Suit he had against the Bastard James; But when he found after his Ar­rival, what dangers himself and other true Professors of the Gospel were in, he dispatch'd his Son to the K. [Page 133] who was then, going over to Fife, and ha­ving got to him before he was gone on board, he acquaints him tremblingly, who was by Nature very suspicious, that it was a matter of great moment, and would prove dangerous to the whole Kingdom, unless the King would take care to secure Hamilton and take away his Commission. The King who was then hastning to Fife, sent the young man to Edenburg to the Lords of the Sessions, and ordered James Lermouth, James Kinnedy, and Thomas A­resky to meet, and charged them to give as much heed to what the Messen­ger should Declare as if he himself were present, and sent them a Ring which they knew, from off his Finger for a Token. These having set their heads together se­cure James, who had just dined and was ready for his Journey, in his own House, and send him prisoner to the Castle; But when they had learned by their spies, that the King upon earnest application made to him on his behalf, was inclined to discharge him; and that besides the dan­ger the publick might be in, they them­selves had reason to fear, least if so Fact­ous and powerfull a man, and now pro­voked by so great an ignominy, did come off clear, he would be sharply and se­verely revenged; They posted to Court and perswaded the King by laying the nearness of the danger, the wicked dis­position, [Page 134] cruel mind and Wealth, of the Man as much as possible they could▪ before him not to discharge him without a Tryal. The King therefore going to Edenburg, and from thence to Seaton, commands him to be tryed for his life, and having been Convicted, lost his head. The Crime laid to his charge, was, that he had on a cer­tain day, determined to break the Doors open and to murder the King, and had secret cabals with the Dowglasses that were publick Enemies. Strange proceedings those were, tho' the Man died in a man­ner unlamented, as being obnoxious to most people and having lead a most wick­ed Life; only the Priesthood were much concerned at his fall, as having placed all the hopes of their Fortunes in his Welfare. But however, he might have been an ill man otherwise, by the sequel it was interpreted, that the King had done little less then murdered him; for from henceforth he was grievously af­flicted with turbulent dreams, whereof amongst the rest, this was one. He saw this same James Hamilton rush into his pre­sence with a drawn Sword, and first cut off his right Arm and then the left, and when he had threatned to return in a short time, and cut off his head, he va­nished: The King when he avoke, was in a great fright, and while he revolved with himself upon the Event of his [Page 135] dream, presently comes News to him, that both his Sons, one at St. Andrews, and the other in Sterling, were dead, almost in the very same moment of time. This was black and ominous upon him, and now we come to shew you his Exit, which was violent as well as the rest that went before him.

When Henry VIII. found himself thus basely disappointed by his Nephew, he was not a little incensed thereat, and prepared an Army to invade Scotland. There were near two years spent with nothing but Incursions on both sides, there being neither a certain Peace nor a Just War between them; at length the Ar­my under the Command of the Duke of Norfolk drew near to the Marches, the Scots encounter the Duke with an He­rault to expostulate concerning the Mo­tives of the War, and withal dispatched the Ld. Gowrdon, with some small Forces to defend the Frontiers; The Herault was de­tained till the Eng. Army came to Berwick, to prevent his giving them Intelligence of their strength. And in October the Duke entring Scotland continued there ransack­ing the Country, without any opposition till the middle of November; by which time King James had Levyed a great Ar­my and was resolved on a Battle. The No­bility did all they could to disswade him from it, and especially shewed a great un­willingness [Page 136] that he should any way haz­zard his own Person, the loss of his Father in like manner being fresh in their memories, and Scotland too sensible of the Calamities that ensued upon it. The K. proving obstinate, they detain him by Force, being desirous rather to run the risque of his displeasure then of his life. This tenderness of him in the Language of rage and indignation he Terms Co­wardice and Treachery, and threatned when once he should get loose to fight the Enemy with his own Family only. The Lord Maxwell seeking to allay him, pro­mised with Ten Thousand men only to in­vade England, and with far less then the English forces, to divert the War. The K. seems to consent hereto, and being of­fended with the rest of the Nobility, he gives the Lord Sinclair a private Commis­sion, which was not to be opened till such time as they came to give Battle, where­in, he made him General of the whole Ar­my. Sinclair, having decryed Five Hun­dred English Horse Commanded by Sir Thomas Wharton and Sir William Musgrave, on the adjacent Hills, he breaks his Com­mission open, and Commanded it to be publickly read before the Army; which so distasted all of them, and especially the Lord Maxwell, that all things were pre­sently in a Confusion and the Army rea­dy to disband. The opportunity of an [Page 137] adjoining Hill gave the English a full pro­spect into their Army, and invited them to make advantage thereof, and so they fell upon the Scots with a furious charge, quickly routed them, slew a great num­ber of them, and took abundance of pri­soners, among whom Sinclair their Ge­neral made one. The News of this de­feat was no sooner brought to the King, who was not far off, but he fell into a great rage and fury, which terminated in sadness and heavy grief of heart, as Ro­bert II. his great Ancestor did upon the ta­king of his Son James by the English; and this brought him to watch and be abste­mious, disdaining to eat his Victuals: And coming to understand that the Coun­try was full of murmurings that the King­dom should be thus endangered for the Prelates pleasure, and knowing withal that such Complaints were Just and True, this made him burst out with some threat­ning and revengeful language against such as had given him such bad advice, and so hastned his untimely Death: For those evil Councellors had no sooner understood what he said, but they considered the danger they might be in, if he should sur­vive, and fearing the Effects of his dis­pleasure, they poisoned him, having learnt the Art in Italy, called an Italian Posit, in the Three and Thirtieth year of his Age, and two and Thirtieth of his Reign. [Page 139] See Melvill's Memoirs. Cardinal Beaton who, tis supposed, had a great hand in his Death, counterfeited his will; wherein himself and three more were appointed Governors of the Kingdom. He left one only Daugh­ter Mary, that Succeeded him in his King­dom and Misfortunes and was at her Fa­thers Death but eight Days old. He ne­ver saw her, and 'twas said, when he was in­formed of her Birth it did rather aggravate his sorrow then exhilarate his mind, as fore­seeing Scotland would one way or other fall under the Government of the English Nation.

The King cut thus off in the flower of his Age, the tumults of the former times were rather hushed up then composed, so that Wise men foresaw such a tempest im­pending over Scotland, as they had neither ever heard before in the ancient records of time▪ nor had themselves seen the like. For what from private animosities and dissension upon the score of Religion, and from a War from aboard with a puissant King, now enraged with the Scots pre­varicating with him, there was reasonably to be hoped for little less then an utter desolation. However, something must be done, and the Cardinal according to his Develish subornation, takes the Admini­stration into his hands; but James Hamilton Earl of Arran being presumptive Heir to the Crown, and his friends as well as ma­ny [Page 138] others disdaining to be under the bon­dage of a Mercenary Priest, they encou­raged him to assume the Regency, which the return of the Prisoners taken in the last Battle by the English (who were re­leased by the King of England with the hopes, and upon promise of procuring their young Queen to be married to Prince Ed­ward and thereby to have the two Crowns United) did not a little promote, so that the Cardinals forgery being in a lit­tle time detected he was casheered and his Kinsman Arran substituted in his room. Not long after, came Sir Ralph Sadler, Ambassador from King Henry in­to Scotland, to treat about the foresaid Match; but the Cardinal and his faction raise forty colourable pretences to af­front him and elude his Message, and to fortify themselves as much as might be, sent for Mathew Stuart, Earl of Lennox out of France, by whose Interest they thought to ballance that of the Hamiltons. But soon after his arrival, finding the Regent and Cardinal had joined Interests, and that himself was eluded in respect to the promise made him of Marrying the Queen Dowager and having the chief manage­ment of affairs; and withal mis-repre­senting his proceeding to the French King, he has recourse to Arms; But not find­ing himself to have Force sufficient to cope with the Regent, with the additional In­terest [Page 140] of the Queen and Cardinal, he makes some sort of Accommodation with them: But at last experimenting there was but little sincerity in all their Actions, and that himself was opprest and in dan­ger of his life every moment, he made some faint resistance and in the end with­drew into England, where he was Ho­nourably received by the King; who be­sides his other respects, gave him Mar­garet Dowglass in Marriage, who was Si­ster by the Mother side to James V. last King of Scotland, begot by the Earl of Angus upon Margaret Sister to Henry VIII. from which Marriage spr [...]ng Henry Stu­art Lord Darnley Husband to Mary Queen of Scots and Father to James VI. of Scot­land and I. of England, of whom more here after.

The King of England in the mean time being highly affronted with the Scots vio­lating of their faith with him in respect to the Marriage, resolves to call them to a severe account for their perfidity, and to that End invades their Country with a puissant Army, commits great ravages, and even Pillaged and Burnt Edenburg it self and then retreated. The Scots with the assistance of the French, whose Alli­ance they had preferred before that of the King of England, endeavoured to retrieve the loss by the Invasion of the English Bor­dirs but made little of the matter; So [Page 141] [...]hat things for a time seemed to hang in [...]uspence between both Nations; and the Cardinal with his cut-throat Ecclesiasticks had leasure to prosecute those that espouesd the Reformation, and because the Civil pow­er would not meddle with the matter, they take the whole into their own hands: And among others, put to Death one George Wiseheart, burning him for an Heretick, and who, when the Governor, who stood by, exhorted him to be of good cheer and ask Pardon of God for his offences; He replied, This flame occasions trouble in deed to my body, but it hath in no wise broken my spirit, but he who now proudly looks down upon me from yonder lofty place (pointing to the Cardinal) shall e're long be as ignominiously thrown down, as now he proudly [...]ies at his ease. Which strangely came to pass, and which, because of the Tragicalness of the Sto­ry we think will not be impertinent to insert in this place. The Cardinal be­ing on a time at St. Andrew's and having appointed a day for the Nobility and e­specially those whose Estates lay nearest the Sea, to Meet and Consult what was fit to be done for the common safety, for their Coasts were severely threatned by the great Naval preparations of the English made against them: He determined for the more effectual Execution of his De­sign to take a strict view of all the Sea-Coasts, [Page 142] to Fortify all Convenient Places, and to put Garrisons into them. Among the rest of the Noble Men Sons, who came into the Cardinal, Norman Lesley, Son to the Earl of Rothes, was one. This same Person had done great and eminent Services for the Cardinal, but on a time there fell out a dispute concerning a pri­vate business which enstranged them a while, one from another; but Norman up­on great promises made to him, quit­ted his right in the matter contested for: But coming after some months to de­mand the performance of what was pro­mised him; They fell from plain dis­course to hot words, and afterwards to down-right railing, uttering such reproach­full words to one another as became nei­ther of them, and so they parted in great rage from one another; The Car­dinal fancying, that he was not treated with that deference due to his Eminency, and Norman full of Wrath and Fury as be­ing Circumvented by fraud; so that he returned home with thoughts bent upon revenge, and openly among his Friends inveyed against the intollerable Pride of the Cardinal insomuch that they agreed to take away his Life: And that the matter might pass with the least suspi­cion, Norman with five only in his Com­pany came to St. Andrew's, and took [Page 143] up his usual Inn, that his intentious might be concealed, by reason of the pau­city of his followers; But there were ten more in the Town Privy to the Conspiracy, who all in several places expected the Signal to fall on. The Days were then very long as being in the Month of May, and the Cardinal was Fortify­ing the Castle for his Defence, for fear of any surprize in such great haste, that the workmen continued at work almost Night and Day; So that when the Porter early in the morning open­ed the Gates to let in the work­men, Norman had placed two of his Men in ambush in an adjacent House, with orders to seize the Porter; And when they had, by so doing, made themselves Masters of the Gate, They were to give the Signal to the rest: By this means they all entered the Castle with­out any noise, and dispatched four of their number to watch the Cardinal's Door, that no Tydings might be carried in to him, others were appointed to go to the Chambers of the rest of the house­hold, to call them up. (for they knew well enough both the Men and the Place) them they roused up half awake, and calling them by their Names, threatned them severely to kill them without any more ado, if they made but the least [Page 144] Out-cry, so that they lead them all out of the Castle in great silence without do­ing them the least harm; And now all the rest being put out, they alone re­mained Mast [...]rs of the Castle. Where­upon those that were posted at the Car­dinal's Door knock'd at it, and being asked by those within what their Names were, they told them, and then were admitted; Having, as have some written, given their words, that they would hurt no body: But when they once got in, they dispatched the Cardinal with many wounds. In the mean time the Rumor run a­bout the Town, That the Castle was taken, insomuch that the Cardinals Friends half drunk, and half asleep, start­ed out of their Beds, and cryed out Arms: And thus they run to the Castle, and called with Menaces and Reproaches, for Ladders and other things necessary for a Storm. They within, seeing this, that they might blunt the present impe­tuosity of their minds and put some check upon their fury; Cryed out to them and demanded, why they made such a bustle, for the Man was dead whom they thought to rescue, and with that threw out the Cardinals dead bo­dy in the sight of them all, even out of that very place, where before he rejoicing­ly beheld the Execution of George Wise­heart.

[Page 145]The English in the mean time pursue their expedition and make terrible havock in the Country; at last the Regent with the assistance of the French, gave them some repulse, which was followed with a perswasive Letter from the English to a Peace: But the Regent with his Regi­ment of Popish Priests about him, and with whom he consulted alone about it, rejected the proposals, and gives them Battle, but receives a most terrible de­feat, and the Priests and Monks paid the shot; For the English, who well knew, it was by their Advice their Generous Of­fers had been refused, took terrible Ven­geance upon them, and gave them no Quarter that bloody day. But this and other Succesfull expeditions that followed could not prevent the Priestly faction to send their young Queen over into France, which was the thing the English mostly dreaded, as having a desire to have her Married to Edward VI. which would have United both Kingdoms. But now the French had gained that point, they grew very imperious and almost in­tollerable to the Scots themselves, and at last came to an Agreement with the English to quit Scotland which was done, in May, 1550. The Regents Proceed­ings had disgusted many, and he began to decline in his Authority, so that he [Page 146] was brought at last by the French Ar­tifice to resign his Office, which by the same Interest was conferred upon the Queen [...]owager. But this was out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire, and almost all the time of her Regency was spent with furious contests between her and the Reformed, who, at last with the Assistance of the English, carried the Day (tho' the young Queen was in the mean time Married to the Dauphine of France) and the Q. Regent at last was forced to resign her Office by Death, worn out with sickness and with grief that she could not Accomplish her Design.

After the Queen Regents Death, Peace was concluded between both Parties, and the French were to leave Scotland, a point the Regent would never yeild to in her life time tho' often prest unto it; and the Death of Francis the Queen of Scots Husband, now become King of France, occasioned her return into her own Coun­try, and the rather because she found her Mother-in-Law, who managed matters of State now somewhat alienated from her, and she could not endure to truckle to her. Soon after her arrival she dispatch­ed William Maitland, Embassador to Q. Elizabeth to Confirm the Peace lately made, but the Chief of his Errand ap­pear'd to be to press Elizabeth to declare [Page 147] her to be the next Heir to the Crown of England; which motion, because Queen Elizabeth did not a little stomach, and and I do verily believe had some influ­ence upon Queen Mary's Future Cala­mity, we shall a little more particularly insist upon, together with the Queens reply to the Ambassador upon it. He began first to acquaint her how highly the Queen his Mistress was affected to­ward her, and how much she desired to maintain Peace and Amity with her; he also carried to her Letters from the Nobility, in which was mentioned a Friendly Commemoration of former ob­ligations and Courtesies; But one thing they earnestly desired of her that both publickly and privately, she would shew her self Friendly and Courteous to­wards their Queen, and being incited by good Offices, she would not only pre­serve them in her ancient Friendship, but superadd daily stronger obligations if possible hereunto. As for their part it should be their earnest desire and study to pretermit no occasion of perpetuating the Peace betwixt the two Neighbour Nations, and that there was but one sure way to induce an amnesty of all past differences, and to stifle the spring of them for ever, by the Queen of Eng­land's Declaring by an Act of Parlia­ment [Page 148] Confirmed by the Royal assent, That their Queen was Heiress to the Kingdom of England next after her self and her Children, if ever she had any; And when the Ambassador had urged the equity and reasonableness of such a Law, and how beneficial it would be to all Britain by many Arguments, he added in the close; That she being her nearest Kinswoman, ought to be more intent and diligent than others in having such an Act made, and that the Queen his Mistress did expect that Testimony of good will and respect from her. To which the Queen of England made Answer to this purpose? I wonder she hath forgot how that before her departure out of France, that after much urging she promised that the League made at Leith should be Confirmed. She having faithfully engaged it should be so, as soon as e're she returned to her own Coun­try; I have, continued she, been put off with Words long enough, now it is time, if she had any regard to her Honour, that her Actions should answer her Words. To which the Ambassador replied, That he was sent on that Embassy but a very few Da [...]s after the Queens arrival, before she had entred upon the Administration of any publick affairs; that she had been hitherto taken up in treating of the Nobi­lity, many of whom she had never seen [Page 149] before, who came from diverse parts, to perform their duti [...]ull Salutations to her; but that she was chiefly employ'd about settling the State of Religion, which, how troublesome and difficult a thing it is, said he, Your self well know. Hence he proceeded to shew that his Mistress had had no vacant time at all before his departure, neither had she yet called sit Men for her Council to Consult about various affairs: especially since the Nobility who lived in the re­motest parts of the North had not been yet able to attend her, before his coming away, with whose advice, matters of s [...]ch publick moment could, and ought to be transacted. which words some­what incensed Queen Elizabeth, and said; What need hath the Queen to make a­ny Consultation about that which she hath obliged her self to under Hand and Seal? he replyed, I can give no other answer at present, for I received no Command about it, neither did our Q. expect that an account thereof would now be required of me, and you may easily consider with your self what Just causes of delay she at present lies under; and after some other Words the Queen returned to the main point, and said: ‘I observe what you most insist upon in behalf of the Queen and in seconding [Page 150] the Requests of the Nobles, you put me in mind; That your Queen is descend­ed from the Blood of the King's of Eng­land, and that I am bound to love her by a natural Obligation as being my near Kinswoman, which I neither can, nor will deny; I have also made it evident to the whole World that in all my A­ctions I ne'er attempted any thing against the good and Tranquility of her self and her Kingdom; those who are acquainted with my inward thoughts and inclina­tions are conscious, that tho' I had just cause of offence given, by her using my Arms and claiming a Title to my King­dom, yet I could hardly be perswaded, but that these seeds of hatred came from others and not from her self: However, the case stands, I hope she does not pretend to take away my Crown whilst I am alive, nor hinder my Children, if I have any, to Succeed me in the King­dom. But if any Calamity should hap­pen to me before, as she shall never find that I have done any thing to pre­judice the right she pretends to have to the Kingdom of England, so I never thought my self obliged to make a dis­quisition into what that right is, and I am of the same mind still, and so shall leave it to those who are skillfull in the Law to determine. As for your Queen, [Page 151] she may expect this confidently of me that if her cause be just, I shall not prejudice it in the least. I call God to witness, that next to my self, I know none that I would prefer before her, or if the matter come to a dispute, that can exclude her; Thou knowest, said she, who are the Competitors, by what assistance, or in hopes of what Force, can such poor Creatures attempt such a mighty thing?’ After some fur­ther discourse, the Conclusion was short; ‘That it was a business of great weight and moment, and that this was the first time she had entertained serious thoughts about it, and therefore she had need of longer time to dispatch it.’ Some Days after she sent for the Ambassador again, and told him, That she extreamly won­dered why the Nobility should demand such a thing of her, upon the first ar­rival of the Queen, especially knowing that the causes of former offences were not yet taken away; But continued she, ‘What, pray do they require? that I having been so much wronged should before any satisfaction received gra­tify her in so large a manner; This demand is not far from a threat: If they proceed on in this way, let them know, that I have Force at home, and Friends abroad as well as they, who will defend [Page 152] my just right.’ To which he answered, That he had shewn clearly at first, how that the Nobility had insisted on this hopefull Medium of Concord, partly out of Duty to their own Queen, in a pro­spect to maintain her [...]weal, and increase her Dignity, and partly▪ out of a de­sire to contribute and settle publick Peace and Amity, and that they dealt more plainly with her then with any other Prince. In this Cause, proceeds, said he, your known and experimented good will towards them, and also upon the ac­count of their own safety; For they knew they must venture Life and For­tune if any body did oppose the right of the Queen, or if any War did arise betwixt the Nations on that Account. And therefore their desires did not seem un­warantable or unjust, as tending to the cradicating the seeds of all Discords and the settling of a firm and solid Peace. She rejoyned, ‘If I had Acted any thing that might diminish your Queens right, then your demand might have been Just, that what was amiss might be amended; but this postulation is without an Exam­ple, that I should wrap my self up in my Winding-Sheet while I am alive, neither was the like asked before by a­ny Prince; however I take not the good intention of your Nobility amiss and [Page 153] the rather because it is an Evidence to me, that they have a desire to pro­mote the Interest and Honour of their Queen; And I do put as great a value upon their prudence in providing for their own security, and of being tender of shedding Christian Blood, which could not be avoided if any faction should a­rise to Challenge the Kingdom, but what such party can there be, or where should they have Force? But to let these consi­derations pass, suppose I were inclina­ble to assent to their demands, do you think I would do it rather at the Re­quest of the Nobles than of the Queen her self? But there are many other things that avert me from such a Transaction. First, I am not ignorant how dangerous a thing it is to venture upon the dis­pute, the disceptation concerning the right of the Kingdom I always mightily avoid­ed, for the controversy has been al­ready so much canvassed in the months of many, concerning a Just and Lawfull Marriage, and what Children were Ba­stards and what Legitimate, according as every one is addicted to this or that that party; that by reason of these disputes, I have been hitherto more back­ward in Marrying. Once when I took the Crown publickly upon me, I Mar­ried my self to the Kingdom, and I [Page 154] wear the Ring I then put on my Finger, as a Badge thereof, however my Reso­lution stands, I will be Queen of England as long as I live, and when I am dead let that Person Succeed in my place which hath most right to it, and if that chance to be your Queen, I will put no obstacle to it. But if another hath a better Title, 'twere an unjust Request to me, to make a publick edict to his prejudice; If there be any Law against your Queen 'tis unknown to me, and I have no great delight to sift into it, but if there should be any such Law, I was sworn at my Coronation that I would not change my Subjects Laws. As for the Second Al­legation, that the Declaration of my Successor will knit a stricter bond of A­mity betwixt us, I am afraid rather it will be a seminary of hatred and discon­tent; What do you think I am willing to have some of my Grave Cloaths al­ways before my Eyes? Kings have this peculiarity, that they have some kind of sentiments against their own Children, who are born Lawfull Heirs to Succeed them. Thus Charles VII. of France some­what disgusted Lewis XI. and Lewis XII. Charles VIII. and of late Francis ill re­sented Henry, and how it is likely, I should stand affected towards my Kins­woman, If she be once Declared my [Page 155] Heir, just as Charles VII. was towards Lewiss XI. besides, and that which weighs most with me, I know the inconstancy of this people, I know how they loath the present State of things, I know how intent their Eyes are upon a Successor. 'Tis natural for all men as the Proverb is, To worship rather the rising than setting Sun. I have learned that from my own times, to omit other Examples when my Sister Mary was sat at the Helm, how eager did some Men desire to see me placed on the Throne, How sollicitous were they in advancing me thereto; I am not ig­norant what danger they would have undergone to bring their design to an issue, if my Will had concurred with their Designs: Now perhaps the same Men are otherwise minded, just like Children when they dream of Apples in their sleep, they are very Joyfull, but waking in the morning, and finding them­selves frustrate of their hopes their mirth is turned into mourning. Thus I am dealt with by those, who whilst I was yet a private Woman, wished me so well; If I looked upon any of them a little more pleasant than ordinary, they thought presently with themselves that as soon as ever I came to the Throne, they should be rewarded rather at the rate of their own desires, than of the [Page 195] Service they performed for me.’ But now seeing the event hath not answe­red expectation, some of them do gape after a new change of things in hopes of a better Fortune, for the wealth of a Prince, tho never so great cannot satis­fy the unsatiable desires of all Men: But if the good will of my Subjects do flag towards me, or if their minds are changed, because I am not profuse e­nough in my Largesses, or for some o­ther cause, what will be the event, when the malevolent shall have a Successor na­med, to whom they may make their grievances known, and in their anger and pet betake themselves? What dan­ger shall I then be in, when so power­full a Neighbour Prince is my Successor, the more strength I add to her in asser­taining her Succession, the more I detract from my own security; This danger can­not be avoided by any precautions, or by any bands of Law; yet those Princes who have hope of a Kingdom offer'd them, will hardly contain them­selves within the bounds either of Law or Equity: for my part if my Succes­sor were publickly declared to the World, I should think my affairs to be far from being settled and secured.

[Page 161]A few days after, the Ambassador asked the Queen, Whether she would return any Answer to the Letter of the Scottish No­bility? I have nothing, said she, at present, to answer, only I commend their Diligence and Love to their Prince, but the matter is of such great weight, that I cannot so soon give a plain and express answer there­unto, but when the Queen shall have done her Duty, in Confirming the League she obliged her self to Ratifie, then 'twill be seasonable to try my Affection towards her; in the mean time, I cannot gratifie her in her Request without Diminution to my own Dignity: The Ambassador reply'd, He had no Command about that Affair, nor ever had any Discourse with his Mi­stress concerning the same; neither did he then propound the Queen's Judgment con­cerning the Right of Succession but his own, and had brought Reasons to enforce it; but as as for the Confirmation of the League by her Husband, 'twas inforced from the Queen of Scots without the Consent of those to whom the Ratifying or Disannulling thereof did much concern; neither was the thing of such consequence, as therefore to exclude her and her Posterity from the Inheritance of England; I do not enquire, said he, by whom, how, when, by what Authority, and for what Reason that League was made, seeing I had no command to speak about any such matter; but this I dare affirm, that though it were confirmed by her in [Page 162] Compliance with her Husbands Desire, yet so great a stress depending on it, his Queen in time, would find out some reason or other, why it should and ought to be dis­solved: I speak not this, said he, in the name of the Queen, but my intent is to shew, that our Nobility have cause for what they do, that so all Controversies being plucked up by the Roots, a firm and sure Peace may be established amongst us. As this aggravated the Spirits of Queen Elizabeth, so it was no doubt a great Mor­tification to Queen Mary; but truckle she must, and so she confirmed the League, resigning any Pretensions to wear the Arms of England and Ireland during the others Life; and some time after an interview be­tween both Queens was appointed to be at York, but some accidents fell out that pre­vented it, and though the Queen of Scots was afterwards detained in England for so many years together, (the causes whereof we are now a going to shew you) yet they never saw one another all their days; and because the Story of David Rizzio has so great a Connection with the Misfortunes of this Queen, it will be necessary in this place to give you the Particulars of it.

This David Rizzio was born at Turin in Savoy, his Father an honest poor Man, that got a mean livelihood for himself and his Family, by Teaching the Elements of Mu­sick, and having no other Patrimony to leave his Children, he made them all, of [Page 163] both Sexes, skillful Musicians. David was one of the number, who being in the Prime of his Youth, and having an excellent Voice, was by his Skill in Musick raised up to the hopes of a better Fortune; he went first to Nice, where the Duke of Savoy then kept his Court, but meeting with no entertain­ment there conformable to his hopes, and contriving every way how to relieve him in his Penury, he light upon one Morretius, who, by the Dukes Command was then preparing to go for the Kingdom of Scot­land, whom he followed thither▪ but Mor­retius being himself a Man of no great Fortune, and looking upon his Service as useless and unnecessary▪ David resolved to stay in Scotland, and try his Fortune there, especially because he understood the Queen delighted in Musick, and was not ignorant of the Rudiments thereof her self; where­upon to make way into her Presence, he first dealt with her Musicians, of whom many were French, to admit him to be one of their Society, which they did; and having plaid his part once or twice, was liked very well▪ whereupon he was intro­duced to be one of their Set or Company, and he so complied with the Queen's Hu­mour, that what by flattering of her, and what by undermining of others, he grew into high Favour with her, and into the extream Hatred of his Fellows; neither did he Content himself with this favour­able blast of Fortune, but he held his [Page 164] equals in Contempt, and by sundry Accu­sations wormed them out of their places, and began to Treat about Matters of State, and at last was made Secretary, and by that means had private Converse with the Queen apart from others. The sudden advance of this Man from a low and al­most beggerly State to such Power, Wealth, and Grandeur, afforded matter of Discourse to the People; his Fortune was far above his Virtue, and his Arrogance and Con­tempt of his Equals, and Contention with Superiours, did far exceed his Fortune; and this Vanity and Madness of the Man was much augmented by the flattery of the Nobility, who sought his Friendship, Courted him, and admired his Judgment, walked before his Lodgings observing his Egress and Regress; but the Earl of Mur­ray alone, the Queen's base Brother, but a Man of Virtue and Sobriety, and such as had no Dissimulation in his Heart, was so far from fawning on David, that he gave him many a soure look, which troubled the Queen as much as David himself: Now about this time, did Matthew Steward, Earl of Lennox, get leave of the Queen to re­turn to Scotland, with his Son, Henry Lord Darnley, a young Nobleman of an high Lineage, and most goodly Personage, being Cousin German to the Queen, who received him very Courteously, and delighting daily in his Society, did at last resolve to Marry him. David therefore to make his Party [Page 165] good against Murray, applies himself with great Adulation to this young Gentleman, who was to be the Queen's Husband, so that he came to be so familiar with him, as to be admitted to his Chamber and Bed side, and to secret Conference with him, where he perswaded him, out of his unwary Credulity and forwardness to com­pass his desires, that he was the chief occasion to make the Queen cast her Eye upon him; besides, he cast in Seeds of Dis­cord between him and Murray every day, as knowing, that if he were removed, he should pass the remainder of his Life with­out Affront or Disturbance; and there being now much talk abroad, not only of the Queen's Marriage with Darnley, and his secret Recourse to her, but also of the too great familiarity between her and David Rizzio, Murray by his down-right dealing with her upon these accounts, got nothing but her Hatred, and so leaves the Court, that he might not be thought the Author of what was acted there; but the Queen finding that Murray was highly favoured of the People, was so incensed against him, that she hastened his long before designed end, and the manner to accomplish it was thus: Murray was to be sent for to Perth, where the Queen was with a few Atten­dants, there Darnley was to Discourse him, and in the Conference they all knew he would speak his Mind freely, and then a Quarrel would arise, upon which, David [Page 166] Rizzio was to give the first blow, and then the rest were to wound him to Death. Murray was made acquainted with this Con­spiracy by his Friends at Court, yet, come what would, he resolved to go; but as he was on his Journey, being again advertised of the design by Patrick Ruuen, he turned aside to his Mother's House near Loch-Levin, and being troubled with a Lask, excused himself, and staid there. Thither some of his Friends came to visit him, whereupon a Report was presently spread about, that he staid there to intercept the Queen and Darnley in their return to Edenburg [...]; upon this, Horsemen were sent out, but they discover'd no Men in Arms, or sign of any force; yet the Queen made such haste, and was so fearful in this Journey, as if some great danger had been at hand.

This hopeful Plot was the Preludium to the unhappy Marriage that soon after suc­ceeded, to which end a great part of the Nobility were called together at Sterlin, that so the Queen might countenance her Will and P [...]easure▪ with some pretence of publick Consent, most of those they sent for were such as they knew would easily give their Assent, or else, that durst not oppose [...] many of those so Congregated, assented to the motion▪ provided always, [...]at no alteration should be made in the [...] established Religion▪ As for Murray he was not averse from the Marriage, for he was the first Adviser that the young man [Page 167] should be called out of England) but he foresaw what Tumult it would occasion, if it were Celebrated without the Queen of England's Consent; besides, he promised to procure her Consent, that so all things might go on favourably; but perceiving there would be no freedom of Debate in that Convention, he chose rather to be ab­sent than to declare his Opinion, which might prove destructive to himself, and no way advantageous to the Commonwealth. The Vulgar also were very free in their Debates about the freedom or not freedom of the Queen to Dispose of her self in Marriage, till at length came an English Ambassador, who declared, That his Mi­stress did much admire, that seeing both of them were equally Allied to her, they should precipitate so great an Affair with­out acquainting her with it; and therefore she earnestly desired that they would stay a while, and weigh the thing somewhat more seriously, to the great Benefit, pro­bably of both Kingdoms. But this Embassy effected nothing, so that Queen Elizabeth dispatched Sir Nicholas Throgmorton to tell the Earl of Lennox and his Son, that they had a Convoy from her to return at a set day into England, and that day was now past, and therefore she commanded them to return, which if they refused, they were to be Banished, and their Goods Confisca­ted. But this Commination would not do neither, but they persisted in their purpose; [Page 168] and because the Queen of Scots would not be thought to Marry a private man, she Creates Darnley Duke of Rothsay, and Earl of Ross; moreover, the Predictions of Wizzardly Women in both Kingdoms, did contribute much to hasten the Marriage, who Prophesied, That if it were Consum­mate before the end of July, it foretold much future advantage to them both; if not, much Reproach and Ignominy; which Predictions, how true, will appear by and by. Besides, there were Rumours spread abroad of the Death of the Queen of England, and the day mentioned before which she should Die.

This Marriage was no sooner Consum­mate and Proclaimed by an Herauld at Arms in Edenburg, and elsewhere, but the People began to murmur grievously, and especially the absent Nobility stormed mightily at it; and did not only rest there, but take up Arms: but having no good Correspondence one with another, they were soon dissipated and supprest; and in some time after a Con­vention of the Estates of the Kingdom was Indicted to be held, that so the Goods of those who were Banished might be Con­fiscate, their Names struck out of the No­bility, and their Armorial Ensigns torn to pieces. And the Queen was continually solicited by David Rizzio, to cut off some of the Chief of the Faction, and to have a Guard of Foreigners about her Person, (a project that is wont to be the beginning [Page 169] of all Tyranny,) and because they should be the more at David's Devotion, they must consist of Italians, his own Country­men; but because this must not be done bare-faced, they were to come in from Flanders by piece-meal, one by one, and at several times too, which way of proce­dure was another step towards this Queen's Ruin. But as David's Power and Authority with the Queen daily increased, so the King grew into greater Contempt with her every day; for as she had rashly precipitate in Consummating the Marriage, so did she as soon repent of it, and gave manifest Indi­cations of her alienated Mind. For as she had presently after the Celebration of the Marriage, publickly proclaimed him King by an Herauld, without the Consent of the States; and that afterwards, in all her Mandates, till that time, the King and Queens Names were exprest, now she changed the Order, keeping both Names in, but setting her own down first. At length, the Queen, to deprive her Hus­band of any opportunity to do Courtesies to any, began to find fault with him, that whilst he was busie in Hawking and Hunting, many slight matters were acted unseasona­bly, or else were wholly neglected: and there­fore it would do better that she should sub­cribe her Name for them both, and by this means he might enjoy his Pleasure, and yet no publick Business be retarded. The poor King was willing to gratifie her in every [Page 170] thing, and yielded to be dismist upon such frivolous Grounds, that so being remote from tha Council and Privacy of publick Affairs, the obligation for all Boons might redound to the Queen her self. For these were her Thoughts, that if her Husbands Favour could do no good Offices to any, and his Displeasure were formidable to none, he would by Degrees come to be contemned of all. And further to increase the Indignity, David was substituted, with an Iron Seal, to impress the Kings Name on Proclamations: Being thus fraudulently Cosened out of Publick Business, least he might also prove an interrupter of their private Pleasures, he was dispatch'd away in a very sharp Winter, to a place called Debly, with a very small Retinue, far be­neath the Dignity of some private Persons, for a Prey rather then for any Recreation; At the same time fell such a quantity of Snow, that the place, which was not very plentiful at best, and besides troubled with Thieves, was enough to starve him, who was bred always at Court, and used to a Liberal Diet: And he would have been in great hazards of wanting Necessaries, had not the Bishop of Orkney casually came thi­ther▪ for he knowing the scarcity of the place, brought with him some Wine, and other Provisions for his use.

The Queen, not Content to advance David, and as 'twere, to shew him to the People, from such an obscure Original, on [Page 171] the account before-mentioned, but she took Counsel another way, how to Cloath him with Domestick Honour; for whereas the Queen had for some Months past permitted more Company than usual to sit with her at Table, that so David's place in the crowd might be less envyed; She thought, by this shew of Popularity to gain the point, that the unaccustomedness of the [...]ight might by the multitudes of guest and daily usage, be somewhat alleviated, and so mens high Spirits by degrees be innured to bear any thing. But at last, it went so far, that none but he and one or two more fate at Meat with her; and that the narrowness of the Room might detract something from the Envy of the thing, she would sometimes Eat her Junkets in a little Parlour, and sometimes also at David's Lodgings; but the Methods she thus used to lessen, did but increase the Reflections, for this maintained Suspicions, and administred occasions to add Discourses. Now were Men's Thoughts let loose, and they were influenced the more, that David, in Houshold-stuff, Ap­parrel, and number of brave and stately Horses, exceeded even the King himself; and it made the matter look the worse, that all this Ornament did not credit his Face, but that rather his Face spoiled all this Ornament. But the Queen not being able to amend the fault of Nature, endea­voured by heaping Riches and Honour up­on him, to raise him up to the Degree of [Page 172] the Nobles, that so she might hide the meanness of his Birth, and the imperfecti­ons of his Body too, with the vail of his lofty Promotions; but care must be had that he should be advanced by Degrees, least he might seem to be but a poor mercenary Senator. The first attempt was made upon the account of a piece of Land, near the City of Edenburg, called by the Scots, Malvil: The Owner of the Land, together with his Father-in-Law, and others that were best able to perswade him, were sent for, and the Queen dealt with the present Possessor to part with his Inheritance; and she desired his Father-in-Law and Friends to perswade him to it: But this matter not meeting with the desired success, the Queen took the repulse as a great Affront to her, and which was worse, David took it very hainously also. These things being known abroad, the Commonalty began to bewail the sad state of Affairs, and expected that things would grow worse, if Men, eminent for their Families, Estates, and Credit, should be outed of their ancient Patrimony, to gratifie the Lust of a beg­gerly Varlet. Yea, many of the Elder sort called to mind, and told others of the time, when Cockburn wickedly slew the Kings Brother, and of a Stone-cutter, was made Earl of Marr, which raised up such a flame of a Civil War that could not be extin­guished but by the Death of the King, and almost the Destruction of the Kingdom. [Page 173] These things were spoken openly, but Men did privately mutter much worse; yet the King would never be perswaded to believe it, unless he saw it with his own Eyes; so that one time hearing, that David was gone into the Queen's Bed-Chamber, he came to a little Door, of which he always carried the Key about him, and found it Bolted on the inside, which it never used to be: whereupon he knocked, but no body an­swered, and so he was forced to go his ways, but conceived great Wrath and In­dignation in his Heart that he could not sleep that Night. From that time forward he consulted with some of his Servants, (for he durst trust but a very few, many of them having been corrupted by the Queen, and put upon him rather as Spies over his Actions, than Attendants upon his Person) how to rid David out of the way: His de­sign they approved of, but to find out a probable way to effect it was the difficulty. When that Consultation had been managed for some days, others of his Servants, who were not privy to the Design, suspecting the matter, and there being evident signs of it, went and acquainted the Queen therewith, and withall told her, that they would bring her to the place where they were, and they were as good as their words. For to that end they observed and watcht the opportunity, when others were shut out, and the King had only his Confi­dents about him, and ordered it so, that [Page 174] the Queen, as if passing through his Cham­ber to her own, surprized him with her Partizans: whereupon she inveighed bitter­ly against him, and highly threatned his Domesticks, telling them all their Plots were in vain, for she knew all their Minds and Actions, and would remedy them well enough in due time. Things being brought to this desperate pass, the King thought fit to acquaint his Father, the Earl of Lennox, with his sad Condition; and after some Conference, they both concluded, that the only remedy for the present Malady, was to reconcile that part of the Nobility which were present, and to recal those that were absent. But great expedition was required in the thing, because the day was near at hand, wherein the Queen had resolved to Condemn the Nobles that were absent, having appointed a Convention of the States for that purpose, against the Wills of the English and French Ambassadors, who interceeded in the case; for they well knew that the accused had not committed such heinous Offences, and besides, foresaw the danger that would ensue thereupon. About the same time did Queen Elizabeth send her a very obliging and long Letter, full of good Advice in reference to the present State of her Kingdom, and endea­vouring to reduce her from a wrathful to a reconcileable Temper. The Queen com­ing to understand that the Nobility knew that such Letters were come, and that they [Page 175] guessed at the Contents of them, she coun­terfeited a civiller respect to them than or­dinary, and began to read the Letters in the presence of many of them. But when she was got about the middle, David stood up, and bid her, Read no more, she had read enough, she should stop; which strange car­riage of his seemed to them rather Arro­gant than New, for they knew how impe­riously he had carried it towards her here­tofore, yea, and sometimes how he would reprove her more sharply than ever her own Husband durst do.

At that time the Cause of the Banished Lords was hotly agitated in the Parliament House; some to gratifie the Queen's Hu­mour would have the punishment due to Traytors past upon them; others stiffly contended, that they had done nothing worthy to be so severely used▪ But David in the mean time went about to all of them, one by one, to feel their Pulses, what every Man's Vote would be concerning the Exiles, if he was chosen President by the rest of the Convention; And he told them plainly, the Queen was resolved to have them Con­demned, that it was in vain for any of them to struggle against it, and besides, who ever did, should be sure to incu [...] the Queen's Displeasure thereby. His aim here­in was partly to confound the weaker Minds betwixt hope and fear, and partly to exclude the most resolute out of the number of the Judges Select, or Lords of [Page 176] the Articles, or at least that the major part might be of such a Gizzard as to please the Queen; and this audacious procedure and wickedness in so mean a Fellow, was feared by some and hated by all. Where­upon the King, by his Father's Advice, sent to James Douglas and Patrick Lindsey, his Kinsmen, the one by the Father, and the other by the Mothers side, who advise with Patrick Ruven, an able man both for Advice and Execution, but he was brought so low with long Sickness, that for some months he could not get out of his Bed. However they were willing to trust him, amongst some few more, in a matter of so great a Concernment, both by reason of his great Prudence, as also because his Children were Cousin-Germans to the King. But here the King was told by them, what a great Error he had committed before in suffering his Kinsmen and Friends to be driven from Court, in favour of such a base Rascal as Rizzio; yea, that he himself did in effect thrust them out of the Court with his own Hands, and so had advanced such a con­temptible Mushroom, so as that now he himself was abashed and despised of him. They had also much other discourse concern­ing the State of the publick, and the King was quickly brought to acknowledge his Fault, and to promise, to act nothing for the future without the Consent of the Nobility.

[Page 177]But those wise and experienc'd Coun­sellors thought it not safe to trust the ver­bal promises of an uxorious young man, as believing that he might be prevailed upon in time by his Wife, to deny this Capitu­lation, to their certain Ruin, and therefore they thought it adviseable, to draw up the Heads of their Agreement in Writing, to which he willingly and forwardly subscribed: The substance whereof was, That Religion should be established as it was provided for at the Queen's return into Scotland; That the Persons lately Banish'd should be Re­call'd, because their Country could not well want their Service; and that David must be destroy'd, for as long as he was alive the King could not maintain his Dignity, nor the Nobility live in Safety; having all set their Hands to this Schedule, wherein the King professed himself the Author of the Homicide; they presently resolved to at­tempt the Fact, both to prevent the Con­demnation of the Nobility that were ab­sent, as also lest delay might give an op­portunity to discover the design; and there­fore, when the Queen was at Supper one evening, the Earl of Argyle's Wife, and David, sitting with her, and that in a nar­row private room, and that there were but a few Attendants about them, for the place would not hold many, James Douglas Earl of Morton, with a great number of his Friends, were walking in an outward Cham­ber, their faithful Friends and Vassals were [Page 178] commanded to stay below in the Yard, to quiet the Tumult, if any should arise: The King comes out of his Chamber, which was below the Queen's, and goes up to her by a narrow pair of Stairs, which were open to none but himself; and was fol­lowed by Patrick Ruven armed, with but four or five Companions more at most, and entring into the Closet where they were at Supper, and the Queen being somewhat moved at the unusual appearance of armed Men, and also perceiving Ruven in an un­couth posture, and meagre by reason of his late Illness, but yet in his Armour, asked him, What was the matter, for the Spe­ctators thought that his Fever had distur­bed his Head, and put him besides himself; but they were soon convinced of that mi­stake, for he immediately commanded David to rise and come out, for the place where he sat was not fit for him: The Queen presently got up, and sought to defend him by the interposal of her Body, but the King took her in his Arms, and bid her be of good chear, they would do her no hurt, only the Death of that Villain was resolved on; and thereupon they haled David into the next Room, then into the outer-Room, and there those that waited with Dowglas made an end of him with many Wounds, which was against the Mind of all those that Conspired his Death; for they had re­solved to Hang him up publickly, all know­ing it would have been a grateful Spectacle [Page 179] to all the People. There was a constant Report at that time, That one John Damiot a French Priest, counted a Conjurer, told David once or twice, that now he had fea­thered his Nest, it was time for him to be gone, and withdraw himself from the Envy of the Nobles, who would at length prove too hard for him, and that he should make answer, The Scots were greater Threatners than Fighters: He was also warned a little before his Death, That he should take heed of a Bastard, to which he replied, That as long as he lived, no Bastard should have so much Power in Scotland, as that he had need to be afraid of him; for he thought his Danger was predicted from the Earl of Murray, the Queen's Natural Brother; but the Prophecy was either fulfilled or eluded, by George Dowglass's giving him the first Blow, who was a base begotten Son of the Earl of Angus; after he had began, then every one rushed in to strike him, either to Revenge their own particular Grief, or the publick Concern. This was the end of the so highly honoured David Rizzio, whose Original and Profession we have given you an account of before, and to which last, with some other of the now recited passages, no doubt of it, Henry IV. of France after­wards alluded, when one in his presence, taking occasion to extol the Wisdom of King James, and calling him by the Name of Salomon, he said, Well he might be termed so, seeing he was the Son of David the Fidler. [Page 180] David was no sooner killed, but a tumult arose all the House over, for the Earls of Huntley, Athol, and Bothwell, who were to­gether at Supper in another part of the Palace, were rushing out, but they were kept within their Chamber by those who guarded the Courts below, and had no harm done them: When Ruven, (who you see, was a prime Manager of this Affair, and who did as it were give David his Death's Wound, by commanding of him out of the Queen's Presence as aforesaid) went out of that Privy-Room into the Queen's Bed Chamber, where not being able to stand, because of his Weakness, he sat down and called for something to Drink; whereupon the Queen fell upon him with such Words, as her present grief and fury sug­gested to her, calling him a Perfidious Traytor, asking him, How he durst be so Impudent as to be in her Presence, sitting, whereas she her self stood; this he excused, as not done out of any Contempt or want of the Sense of his Duty, but out of the weakness of his Body; but gravely and wisely advised her, that in managing the Affairs of the Kingdom, she would rather Consult the Nobility, who had a concern in the publick, than Vagrant Rascals, who could give no pledge of their Fidelity, and who had nothing to hazard, either in Estate or Credit; neither was the Fact then committed without a President; that Scot­land was a Kingdom bounded by Laws, and [Page 181] was never wont to be govern'd by the Will and Pleasure of any one Man, but by the Regulation of the Law, and Consent of the Nobility; and if any former King had done otherwise, 'tis certain he had smarted severely for it: Neither were the Scots at this day so far degenerated from their Ancestors, as to bear not only the Govern­ment, but even the Servitude of a Stranger, who was scarce worthy to be their Slave: This Speech did enrage the Queen more than before; whereupon the company de­parted, having placed Guards in all con­venient places for fear any Tumults should arise.

In the mean time what was transacted flew all over the Town, and as every ones Disposition was, right or wrong, they took Arms, and away they went to the Palace, where the King shewed himself unto them out of a Window, and told the multitude, That he and the Queen were safe, and that there was no cause for their Tumultuous Assembly; for what was done, was done by his Order, and what that was should be known in due time, and therefore at pre­sent every one should go to his own House; upon which command they withdrew, ex­cept some few that staid to keep Guard. Next morning, the Nobles that returned from England, taking the opportunity, offe­red to come to their Trial in the Town-Hall, being ready to plead their Cause, for that was the day appointed, but none ap­pearing [Page 182] against them, they openly protested it was not their Fault, for they were ready to submit to a Legal Trial, and so every one returned to his own Lodgings. The Queen, under these Perplexities, sent for her Brother Murray, and after a long Con­ference, gave him hopes that she would for ever after commit her self to her Nobles; hereupon the Guards were slackened, tho' many thought that her Clemency did pre­sage no good to the publick, for she ga­thered together the Soldiers of her old Guard, and went through a back Gate by night, with George Seaton, who attended upon her with 800 Horse, first to his own Castle, then to Dumbar: She also carried the King along with her, who for fear of his Life, was forced to Obey. When she came thither, she hastned to gather Forces together, and pretending a Reconciliation with those that were lately returned from Banishment, she turned her fury upon the Slayers of David, and put out a severe Pro­clamation against them; many of them that were accused were Banished, some to one place and some to another; some were Fined, but they that were most Innocent, and therefore thought themselves most se­cure, were put to Death; but the princi­pal Contrivers of the Fact were fled, some to England, and others to the Highlands ▪ And such as were least suspected to have an hand in it, were dispossest of their Offi­ces and Imployments, and their Enemies [Page 183] put into their Places▪ and to colour her rigorous Proceedings against the rest, a Proclamation was made by an Herauld, in such a publick sorrow, not without Laughter, that no man should say, the King had any hand in, or was privy to David's Slaughter; but what was stranger than all the rest, was, That she caused David's Body, which was Buried before the Door of a Neigh­bour Church, to be removed in the night, and placed in the Sepulchre of the late King and his Children; which gave occasion to ill-favoured Reports for the blemishing of her Honour; for what greater Confession of Adultery with him could she well make, than as far as she was able, to equal such an obscure Fellow, who was neither well brought up, nor had deserved well of the publick, in his last Funerals, with her Father and Brothers? And to increase the Indignity of the thing, she put the Varlet almost in the Arms of Magdalen de Valois, the late Queen: As for her Husband, she threatned him, and obliquely in her Discourses scoff'd at him, doing her utmost endeavour to take away all Power from him, and to render him as contemptible as she could: But the time of her Delivery now drawing nigh, she was Reconciled to the Earls of Murray and Ar­gyle, and retir'd to Edinburg-Castle, where on the 19th day of June 1566. a little after 9 in the morning, she was brought to Bed of a Son, afterward called James the Sixth of Scotland, and the First of Great Britain.

[Page 184]After her Delivery she received all other Visitants with kindness enough, suitable to the occasion of a publick Joy, but her Hus­band, to whom she should have been most kind but his presence was disdained, and his company unacceptable. And now the Earl of Bothwell is the Man, 'tis he that managed all Affairs, and the Queen was so inclined to him, that she would have it un­derstood, no suit would be obtain'd from her but by his Mediation; and as if she were afraid her favour to him were but mean, and not sufficiently known, she took on a certain day one or two with her, and went down to the Haven called New-Haven, and her Attendance not knowing whether she intended, she went a-board a small Vessel, prepared there for her, by some of Both­well's Creatures, who were Pyrates of known Rapacy▪ with this Guard of Robbers, she ventured to Sea, to the Admiration of all good Men, taking none of her honest Ser­vants along with her, and Landed at All [...] ­way, a Castle of the Earl of Mar's, where she demoan'd her self for some time, (saith Buchan [...]n) as if she had forgot not only the Dignity of a Queen, but even the Mo­desty of a Matron; but these Joys will one Day turn sharp and sower. The Poor King when he heard of her Departure, followed her by Land as fast as he could, his Designs and Hopes, being to be with her, and so enjoy Conjugal Society, as Man and Wife; but [...]e▪ as an importunate disturber of her [Page 185] Pleasures, was bid to go back from whence he came, and had hardly time allowed him for his Servants to refresh themselves. A few Days after, when she returned to Eden­burgh, she would not go into her own Pal­lace, but took up her Lodgings, where the Annual Convention called the Exchequer Court was then held; for it seems David Chalmers ▪ a Creature of Bothwell's, had a House near it, whose back Door was Con­tiguous to the Queen's Garden, through which Bothwell might pass in and out to her at his pleasure; and the King in the mean time, finding no place for favour, and being tir­ed with impeads, retired after her in dis­content; a while after, the Queen went to Jedburgh, to hold a Convention, and Both­well in some time to Liddisdail, where he was wounded by a High-way-Pad, and so was car­ryed to Hermitage Castle, in great danger of his Life; but when the News was brought thereof to the Queen, then at Barthwick, thô the Winter was very sharp, yet she flew in hast, first to Malrose, then to Jedburgh, and thô she received certain Intelligence there, that Bothwell was alive, yet being impatient of any delay▪ and not able to forbear, tho' in such a bad time of the Year, notwith­standing the Difficulty of the way, and the Danger of Robbery, she put her self on her Journey, with such an Attendance, as hardly any honest Man, tho' he were but of a mean Condition, would trust his Life and Fortune to. From thence she returned [Page 186] again to Jedburg, and made great and diligent Preparation, that Bothwell should be brought thither; but here it was that she fell into a sore and most dangerous Sickness, so as no body expected she would have lived; but she recovered it, being designed for a worse Fate; when the King heard of her Illness, he posted to Jedburgh, both to give her a Visit, and to testifie his observance, by all the good Offices he could do; and also to incline her to a better course of Life, hop­ing she might now repent for what she had done, as Persons in great danger are wont to do. But she on the contrary, gave him not the least Sign of a reconciled Mind, but gave a Charge, that no body should rise up nor Salute him, as he came in, or to give him any Entertainment so much as for one Night; but at the same time suspecting the Disposition of the Earl of Murray, as courteous and civil, tampered with his Wife, to make hast now to fain her self Sick, and go immediatly to Bed; that so under colour of that Sickness, the King might be excluded from thence; yea, she made it her business to enforce him to be gone, for want of Lodging, which he had plainly been necessitated to do, had it not been for one of the Family of the Humes, who for very shame pretended a sudden cause for his departure, and so left his Lodgings free for the King next Day: in the Morning, he was commanded away from thence to Sterlin again, which Order for his return, [Page 187] was the more reflected on, because at the very same time Bothwell was carryed out of the place where be Lodged, to the Queen's Lodging, in the Face of all the People; and tho' neither of them were well recover­ed, she from her Sickness, and he from his Wounds, yet they Journeyed, first to Kels [...], then to Coldingham, and next to Cragmillen, not caring for the Reports, that were spread of them by the way; and 'twas observed, that the Queen in all her Discourse, pro­fessed, that she could never live, unless she were Divorced from the King, and ever and anon said, a Divorce might easily be ob­tained, if the Popes Bull were recalled; whereby leave was given them to Contract the Marriage against the Papal Laws: but seeing this matter was not like to succeed, as she expected, she left of other Methods, and applyed her Mind wholly to his Mur­der.

And as a Manifestation of her Affections to Bothwell, and her Hatred to her Hus­band, when a little before Winter, the Am­bassadors of England and France, came to be Witnesses at the Baptism of the Prince; she strove both by pecuniary and all other industrious ways, that Bothwell should ap­pear the most magnificent of any among all her Subjects and Guests at the Entertain­ment; whereas her Lawful Husband at the Baptism, was not allowed necessaries; yea, was forbid to come in sight of the Ambassa­dors; his Servants also appointed for his [Page 188] Daily Attendants, were taken from him, and the Nobility forbid to pay any observance to him; But in her present carriage, and comportment in times past, by how much the more implacable she was towards him, by so much the more did the People pity him, by seeing a Young and an harmless Gentleman thus reproachfully used, and yet not only to bear it patiently, but even to endeavour to appease her Rage by the Ser­vilest Offices he could perform, that so he might gain some Degree in her Favour. As for his Apparel and Dress, she threw the Fault upon the Embroiderers, Goldsmiths, and other Tradesmen, tho' it was but a false shamless pretence; For it, was well known to every body, it was her doings. Whereas for Bothwell's Ornament, she wrought many of them with her own Hands; besides the Foreign Ambassadors were advised, not to enter into any Conference with the King, tho' they were in the same Castle together, for the most part of the Day.

The young Gentleman being thus un­courteously used, exposed to the scorn of all, and his Rival honoured before his Face, resolved to retire to his Father to Glasgow, who as some conceived, had sent for him; and that nothing might be wanting on the Queen's part to shew her accustomed Ha­tred at his departure, She took away all the silver Plate which he had used ever since he was Married, and put Pewter in their stead; besides, she gave him Poison [Page 189] before his departure, that so the Evil might be more secret, if he died when absent from the Court; but the Poison wrought sooner than those who gave it supposed it would; for he had scarce been gone a mile from Sterling, when such a grievous Pain took him all over his Body, that it was ve­ry apparent, his Disease was not usual, but fraudulently design'd; but he no sooner came to Glasgow, but that the mischief did manifestly discover it self, for there arose blue Pustules all over his Body, with so much Pain and Torment, that there was little hope of his Life; and when James Abernethy, an able, faithful, and experi­enced Physician, was consulted about his Distemper, he made present answer, that he had taken Poison: Hereupon he sent for the Queen's Domestick Physician, but the Queen would not suffer him to go, fearing lest his Skill might Cure him, and she was not also willing that many should know of his being Poisoned. When the Ceremonies of the Baptism were over, and the Com­pany by degrees gone home, the Queen was private with Bothwell, and scarce any other company at Drummond and Tullibar­din, a Nobleman's House, where she spent some days about the beginning of January, and so returned to Sterling, and pretended daily to go to Glasgow, but at the same time expected to hear every Minute of the Kings Death; and to prevent the worst, she resolved to have her Son in her own [Page 190] Power, and that her design might occasion no suspicion, they began to find fault that the House wherein he was kept was incon­venient; that in such a moist and cold place he might be subject to Rheums; but the true cause of his removal was far other­wise: for 'twas very plain, that the place whither he was carried, was far more ob­noxious upon the aforesaid account, by be­ing scituated in a low marshy Ground, ha­ving a Mountain betwixt it and the Sun. rising; whereupon the Child, scarce seven months old, was brought in a very sharp Winter to Edenburg; but when she there heard, that the King was recovered, as having overcome the Poison by the vigour of his Youth, and strength of his Natural Constitution, she renewed her Plot to de­stroy him, acquainting also some of the Nobility therewith. In the mean time News was brought her that the King de­signed to fly into France or Spain, and that he had spoke about it to the Master of an English Vessel which was then in the Frith of Clyde: Hereupon, some thought that an opportunity was offerred her to send for him, and if he refused to come, to kill him out of the way; yea, some offerred to be her Agents in the thing, and all of them advised that the Fact should be pri­vately committed, and that it should be hastened before he was perfectly recovered of his Illness. The Queen having already gotten her Son into her Possession, that she [Page 191] might also have her Husband in her Power, though not as yet agreed in the design how he should be made away, resolved to go to Glasgow, having, as she imagined, suffici­ently cleared her self from his former sus­picions, by many kind Letters she had late­ly sent him; but her Words and Deeds were not both of a piece, for she took al­most none with her in her Retinue but the Hamilton's, and other Hereditary Enemies of the King. In the mean time she com­mits to Bothwell's Care to do what was Con­tributary to the Design at Edenburg, for that place seemed most convenient for them to act this Hellish Tragedy, and also to conceal the Fact when 'twas perpetrated. For there being a great Assembly of the Nobles, the suspicion might be put off from one to another, and so divided between many. And now when the Queen had tried all the ways she could to dissemble her Hatred, at last by many Chidings, Com­plaints and Lamentations, she could yet scarce make him believe, that she was re­conciled to him; but comply he does, and so, though hardly yet recovered from his Sickness, was brought in a Litter to Eden­burg, to the fatal place designed for his Murther, which Bothwell, in the Queen's absence, had undertaken to provide; and that 'twas an House that had not been In­habited for some years before, near the City Walls in a lonesome solitary place, beneath the Ruins of two Churches, where [Page 192] no clamour or out-cry could be heard, thither he was thrust with a few Atten­dants only: for the most of them (being such as the Queen had put upon him, ra­ther as Spies than Servants) were departed, as foreknowing the approaching danger; and those that remained could not get the Keys of the Door from the Harbingers that provided the Lodgings.

The Queen amidst all this Impiety, was mighty sollicitous to have all the Suspicion thereof averted from her self, and her Dissi­mulation had proceeded so far, that the King was now fully perswaded there was a firm Re­concilement between them; so that he sent Letters to his Father, who stayd behind Sick at Glascow, giving him great Hopes and Assurance, that the Queen was now sin­cerely his, and commemorating her many good Offices towards him, he now promis­eth himself there would be a change of all things for the better. And as he was writ­ing these Letters, the Queen came in on a sudden, and Reading of them, she gave him many Kisses and kind Embraces, telling him withal, that sight mightily pleased her, in that now she discerned there was no Cloud of Suspicion hovering over his Mind. Things being thus well secured on that side, her next Care was to contrive, as much as possible, to cast this Guilt upon another; and therefore she sent for her Brother the Earl of Murray, who had lately got leave, and was going to St. Andrews, to visit his [Page 193] Wife, who lay there (as he heard,) dange­rously Ill; for besides the danger of Child-bearing, she had Pustles, that rose all over her Body, with a violent Feaver. The cause of her detaining him she pretended to be, that she might Honourably dismiss the Duke of Savoy's Ambassador, who came too late to the Princess's Baptism; but tho' this seemed a very mean pretence to take him off from so just and necessary a Duty, yet he obey'd; in the Interim, the Queen every Day made her Visits to the King, and reconciled him to Bothwell, whom she, by all means in the World, desired to be out of Gun-shot, of any the least Suspicion: She made him large promises of her Affections for the future, which over Officious-carriage, thô suspected by all, yet no Man was so bold as to advise the King of his danger, in regard he was wont to tell the Queen all that he heard, to Insinuate himself the more into her favour; only Robert the Queen's Brother, moved either with the Horridness of the Fact, or with pity to the Young Gen­tleman, took the Boldness to acquaint him of his Wives plot against him, but on this Condition, that he would keep it to himself, and provide for his own safety, the best he could. But the King did for all that reveal it to the Queen, according to his Custom, whereupon Robert was sent for, but he stout­ly deny'd it, so that they gave one another the Lie, and were laying their Hands on their Swords; now the Queen was glad to [Page 194] see, that her Designs were likely to have so good a Conclusion, and therefore she calls for her Brother James, as if he were to decide the Controversie, but the Truth was, that he also upon that Accusation, might be cut off▪ there was no body else present but Bothwell, who was so far from keeping of them from going together by the Ears, that he would rather have killed him, that had the worst of the Combat, as plainly ap­pear [...]d by his saying, there was no reason James should be sent for, in such hast, to keep those from Duelling, who, whatso­ever they pretended, had no such inclinati­on to it. When this stirr was quieted, the Queen and Bothwell were wholly intent, how to perpetrate the Murder, and how to do it too, with all imaginary Secrecy, and that the Queen might dissemble both Love to her Husband, and a forgiveness of all old Offen­ces, she caused her Bed to be brought from the Palace, into a Chamber below that of the Kings, where she lay after she had sate up late with him in Discourse, for some Nights.

In the mean time, she devizes all manner of ways to cast the Odium of the Fact, when committed, upon her Brother James, and the Earl of Morton; for she conceived, if those two, whose Esteem and Authority she most feared and hated, were taken out of the way, all other things would fall in o [...] themselves; she was also invited there­unto by Letters from the Pope, and Charles [Page 195] Cardinal of Lorrain for the Summer before, having by her Unkle desired a Sum of Mo­ney of the Pope, for Levying an Army to di­sturb the State of Religion in Britain; and the Pope more cunningly, but the Cardinal more plainly, had advised her to destroy those who were the greatest hindrances to the Restitution of Popery, and especially those two Earls by Name, i [...] they were not taken off▪ They promised a Mass of Money for the War, but the Queen thinking some i [...]ck­ling hereof had come to the Ears of the Nobility, did therefore, to clear her self from any suspicion, or the least inclination to such a thing, shew them the Letters; but these Villanous Designs so subtily laid, as they thought, were somewhat disturb'd by frequent Messuages from the Earl of M [...]rray's Wife, how that she had miscarry'd, and that there were but small hopes of her Life. This Message was brought to the Earl on the Lords-day, as he was going to Church, whereupon he returned back to the Queen, and desired leave of her to be gone, but she very much urged him to stay one day longer, to hear certainer News, alledg­ing, that if he made never so much hast, his coming would do her no good; but if her Distemper did abate, to morrow would be time enough; but the Earl was fully bent on his Journey, and went his way. Now the Queen had deferred the Murder till that night, and would seem then to be so jo [...]und and dissolute, as to Celebrate the Marriage of [Page 196] Sebastian, one of her Musick, in the very Palace; and when the Evening was past in Mirth and Jollity, then she went with a Numerous Attendance, to see her Husband, spent some Hours with him, and was mer­rier then formerly, often kissing him, and giving him a Ring, as a Token of her Love. But after the Queens departure, the King with the few Servants that were about him, recollecting the Proceedings of the past Day, amongst some comfortable Speeches given him by the Queen, he was much con­cerned at the remembrance of a few words she had uttered; for she, whether not able to contain her joy arising from the hopes that the Murder would now be perpe­trated; or whether it fell from her by chance, cast a Word, That David Rizzio was Slain the last Year about that time. This unseasonable mention of his Death, thô none of them liked it, yet because it was now late at Night, and that [...]xet Morn­ing was designed for sports and Pastimes, they went speedily to Bed; in the mean [...]time Gun-powder was placed in the Room be­low, to blow up the House, and all other things were craftily and cautiously tran­sacted; yet in a small matter, they left a Tract, whereby to be discovered. For the Bed in which the Queen used sometimes [...]o lye, was taken away, and a worse put in the room of it, as if, tho' they were prodigal enough of their Credit, yet they would spare a little Money; but before the Queen [Page 197] had left the King one Paris, a French-man, and a Partizan in the Conspiracy, entred into the King's Bed-chamber, and there stood still, yet so, that the Queen might see him, and that was the Sign agreed on be­twixt them, that all things now were in a readiness. The Queen, as soon as she saw Paris, as if Sebastin's Marriage had come in­to her Mind; she began to blame her self, that she had been so negligent, as not to Dance that Night at the Wedding, as it was agreed on, and to put the Bride to Bed, as the manner is; whereupon she presently started up, and went home to her Palace, whither when she came, she had a pretty deal of Discourse with Bothwell, who being at length dismist, went into his Chamber, changed his Cloaths, put on Soldiers Ha­bit, and with a few in his Company, passed through the Guards into the Town; two other Parties of the Conspirators, came several ways to the appointed place, and a few of them entred into the King's Bed-Chamber, of which they had the Keys, (as I said before) and whilst he was fast asleep, they took him by the Throat, and Strangled him, and one also of his Ser­vants who lay near him. When they were Slain, they carryed their Bodies through a little Gate, which they had made on pur­pose in the Walls of the City, into a Gar­den near at hand, and then they set Fire to the Gun-powder, which blew up the House from the very Foundation, and made [Page 198] such a Noise, that it shook some of the Ad­jacent Houses, yea, those that were fast asleep in the farthest part of the City, were awakned and frightned at the Noise, when the Horrid Fact was done, Bothwell was let out by the Ruins of the City Walls, and so returned to the Palace, through the Guard, by another way, then that he came; this was the common report of the King's Death, which held for some Days, and which you'll find a fuller Confir­mation of in due place. The Queen had sat up that Night to wait for the Event, and hearing the Tumult, called together those of the Nobility who were at Court, and Bothwell amongst the rest, and by their advice, sent out to know what was the matter, as if he had been ignorant of all that was done; some went to inspect the King's Body, which had only a Linnen Shirt on the Upper-part of it, the rest lay naked, and his other Cloaths and Shoes lay near him; the Common People also in great Multitudes came to see him, and many con­jectures there were upon it yet they all agreed, (sorely against Bothwell's Mind,) that he could never be thrown out of the House by the force of the Gun-powder, for there was no part, broken, bruised, black or blue about his Body, which, in a Ruin by Gun powder, must needs be; besides his Cloaths lying near him, were no ways [...]dged with the Flames, or covered with any Ashes, so that it was impossible it could [Page 199] have been thrown thither by any Casualty, but must be placed there on purpose, by some Bodies Hands; so Bothwell returned again, and as if he had been in great admi­ration, brought the News to the Queen, of the sad Disaster, whereupon she went to Bed, and lay secure, soundly Sleeping a great part of the next Morning. Sir James Mel­vil says, he himself came that same Morning to the Door of the Queens Chamber, where he met the Earl of Bothwell, who told him, her Majesty was sorrowful and quiet, (a likely matter,) which had occasioned him to come forth; and also added, that the strangest Accident had fallen out, that ever was heard on, for Thunder had come out of the Sky, and had burnt the King's House and himself was found dead, lying at a little distance from the House, under a Tree; then desired Sir Jam [...]s to go to see his Body, and said there was not any hurt nor a mark on all of it; but when Sir James had been up to see him, he had been taken up into a particular Room, and kept by one Alexander Durham, so as that he could not get a sight of him.

In the mean time, the Pa [...]ricides, to add Villany to Villany, did spread Reports abroad, and which were carryed by Day­light, to the very borders of England, that the King was Murdered by the Design of the Earls of Murray and Morton ▪ yet every body thought privately with themselves, that the Queen m [...]st needs be the Author [Page 200] of the Murder; neither was the Bishop of St. Andrews free from suspicion; for there were shrew'd Conjectures against him, as the high and cruel enmities between the Fa­milies; that he was never well reconciled to the Queen, before she hatch'd that Wick­edness in her Mind; and that of late, when he accompanyed her to Glascow, he was made acquainted with the utmost of her Projects. And Men's suspicion were en­creased of him, because, at that time, he had retired to his Brother's House, the Earl of Arran, which was nigh to the House where the King was Slain; whereas, before he always used to live at some eminent part of the City, where he might conveniently re­ceive Visits, and curry favour with the Peo­ple by Feasting them; and besides Lights were seen in his House, and a Watch all that same Night, from the upper part of the City, and when the Designed Powder Clap was given, then it was observed, the Lights were put out, and his Vassals, many of whom watched in their Arms, were for­bidden to go out of Doors. But the true Story of the Matter of Fact, which broke out after some Months, gave occasion to People to look upon those things, as cer­tain Indications, which before were but suspicions only. When the Murder was committed, the Conspirators (as before hinted, presently dispatch'd Messengers into England, who were to report, that the King was cruelly Murdered by his own Sub­jects, [Page 201] especially by the Contrivance of the Earls of Murray and Morton; and the News did so enflame the English to a Hatred of the whole Scotch Nation, that for some Days, no Scotch Man durst walk the Streets, without running the Risque of his Life; and tho' many Letters past to and fro that made some Discovery of the Secret Contri­vance of the Design, yet the People would hardly be appeased. In the mean time, the King's Body was left for a time, as a Specta­cle to be gaz'd on, and a great concourse of People continually flock'd to see it; the Queen having ordered that it should be laid upon a Form or Bier, turn'd up side down, and brought by Porters into the Palace, where she her self view'd the Body, which was the most beautiful and comliest of the Age. The Nobles that were present desir­ed, that a Royal and Magnificent Funeral should be made for him. But she, good Wo­man, caused him to be carryed out by Bea­rers in the Night, to be buryed in no man­ner of State; and that which increased the Indignity the more, was, that his Grave was made near David Rizzio's, as if she had de­signed to Sacrifice the Life of her Husband, on purpose to appease the Ghost of that base Varlet.

There were two surprizing Prodigies hapning at that time, which are worthy of Relation, and were Construed, as being ve­ry Ominous to that poor Prince; one of them a little preceded the Murder, and thus it [Page 202] it was; One John Londin, a Gentleman of Fife, having been Sick for a long time of a Fever, did the Day before the King was Murdered, about Noon, lift up himself a little out of his Bed, and as if he had been in great Astonishment, cry'd unto such as stood by him, with a loud Voice, Go help the King, for the Parricides were just now going to Murder him. And a while after he called out with a Mournful Tone, Now 'tis too late to help, he is already Slain; and the Person himself died soon after; the other did accompany the Mur­der it self. There were three of the Fami­liar Friends of the Earl of Athol, the King's Cousin, who were Men of Reputa­tion, for their Valour and Fortunes, that had their Lodgings not far from the King's, who when they were asleep about Midnight, there seem'd a Man to come to Dugal Stu­wart, who was next the Wall, and to pull his Hand over his Beard and Cheek, so to awake him, saying; Arise, they are offering Violence to us, upon which he presently awakes, and considering of the Apparition with himself, another of them Cries out presently in the same Bed, Who kicks me? Dugall answered, perhaps 'tis a Rat, which us'd to walk about in the Night; whereup­on the Third, who was not awake, got up presently out of his Bed, and was a going to run away, asking, Who was that had given him a Box on the Ear? Which words were no sooner spoke by him, but that one [Page 203] seemed to go out of the House by the Door, not without some Noise. While they were descanting together on what they had heard and seen, the Noise of the King's House, that was blown up, drove them all into a great Fright. The Earl of Athol highly re­sented the King's Murder, and so did Mur­ray, which put both of them in danger of their Lives; nay, Bothwell understanding that Murray was Sick at his own House of the Gout, did under a pretence of Visiting him, design to Murder him, as he had done before; but Murray had removed a little be­fore to his Brother Robert's House, and so es­caped and now the Queen and Bothwell are as unseparable as their Shadows, and take a full swing of their pleasures; but the Arrival of the French Ambassador, and his insisting how infamous the King's Murder was among Strangers, put some damps, upon their En­joyments; besides, they were not a little sollicitous, concerning the Rumours spread of Bothwell, being concern'd in the Fact, and how to avoid the Danger, and clear of all suspicion, was now become the main Head of their Consultation. There was a Design laid before, to have him try'd and acquit­ted; for presently upon the King's death, Bothwell and some of his Complices came to the Earl of Argyle, who was Hereditary Ca­pital Judge in Criminal Causes, and first pretended, they were wholly ignorant of what was done, and wondered at it all as a New, unheard of, and incredible thing; [Page 204] then they proceded to the Examination of it, and to that end Summoned some poor Women out of the Neighbourhood, but they stuck between Hope and Fear, being uncertain, whether they ought to speak, or hold their Peace; but tho' they were very cautious in their words, yet, uttering more then was expected, they were dismist as having spoken nothing upon any certain Ground; and as for their Testimony, it was easie enough to dispute it; whereupon some of the King's Servants, whom the Fire had not destroy'd, were sent for, and being interrogated concerning the Ingress of the Assassines, answered, That the Keys were not in their Power; and it being urged on them again, in whose Power then? They reply'd the Queens, whereupon the further Examination was put off, as they pretended, but indeed was quite supprest, for they were afraid, if they went any fur­ther, the Court Secrets would become all publickly known.

And yet to set a Gloss upon the Matter, a Proclamation was Published, and a Pecu­niary Reward was offered to the Discoverers of the King's Murder, but who durst be so bold, as to Impeach Bothwell, seeing he was to be the impleaded, the Judge, the Examiner, and the Exacter ef the Punish­ment too. Yet this fear which stopped the Mouths of divers single Persons, could not bridle the Multitude, for Libells were Pub­lished, Pictures made, and Night-hawkings [Page 205] and Cries were uttered, whereby the Parri­cides might easily understand, that their whole Design was discovered, who projected the Wicked Fact, and who was assistant to put the same in Execution; and the more the People were forbidden, the more did their Grief make them speak; and tho' the Conspirator seemed to despise these things, yet they were so inwardly prick'd and touch'd, that they could not dissemble their Sorrow. And therefore committing the Examination about the King's Death, in which they ought to have proceeded; they fell more severely and in earnest upon ano­ther Guest, and that was against the Authors of Libels, or, as they called it, the Calum­niators of the Earl of Bothwell; and this they so severely prosecuted, that they spared no Pains nor Cost the [...]e; and made it Ca­pital, not only to Sell, but even to Read those Libells, when they were Sold; but they who endeavoured to bridle the Tongues of the People, by threatning Capital Punish­ments to them, were not satisfied with the King's death, but still retain'd their Hatred against him, though now in his Grave. For the Queen gave her Husbands Goods, Arms, Horses, Apparel, and other Houshold-stuff, either to his Fathers Enemies, or to the Murderers themselves, as if they had been forfeited into her Exchequer. And as these matters were openly acted, so many did as publickly inveigh against them, so that a Taylor, who was to fit some of the King's [Page 206] Cloaths for Bothwell's Body, was so adven­turous as to say, now he saw the Old Coun­try Custom verified, that the Executioner had the Cloaths of them that suffered by his Hands. But tho' these things wrought no small disquietude to the Parricides Day by Day, yet nothing stuck so close to them, as the Dayly Complaints of the Earl of Lennox, who, though he would not adven­ture to come to Court, by Reason of Both­well's Power, accompanyed with the highest Luxury, yet he so earnestly sollicited the Queen by Letters, that she would commit Bothwell to Prison, who without doubt, was the Author of the King's Murder, till a Day might be appointed to bring him to a Tryal; that she, tho' eluding his desire by many Stratagems, yet seeing at last, the Examination of so heinous a Fact, could not be avoided, designed to have it carry­ed on in this manner.

The Meeting of the Assembly of the Estates was nigh at hand, and she was desi­rous before that time, to have the Matter decided, that so Bothwell being absolved by the Votes of the Judges, might be further cleared by the [...]u [...]ages of the whole Par­liament. This hast was the Cause that no­thing was carryed in an orderly manner, or according to the Ancient Custom in that Judicatory Process, for the Accusers, (as is customary,) ought to have been cited, with their Kindred, as Wife, Father, Mo­ther, Son, either to appear Personally, or [Page 207] else by Proxy, within 40 Days, for that is the time limitted, by the Law; but here the Father was only Summoned, without Summoning any of his Friends, only his own Family, which at that time was in a low Estate, and reduced but to a few; where­as in the mean time, Bothwell flew up and down the Town, with a great many Troops at his Heels, so that the Earl of Lennox thought it not adviseable for him to come into a City full of his Enemies, where he had neither Friends nor Vassals, to secure him; and supposing there was no danger of Life, yet there could be no freedom of De­bate; but Bothwell appeared at the Day ap­pointed, and came into the Town-Hall, be­ing himself both plaintiff and Defendant too. The Judges of the Nobility were called over, most of them being Bothwell's Friends, and none daring to appear on the other side to accept against any one of them; only Robert Cunningham, one of Lennox's Fami­ly, put a small stop to the Proceedings, for he having liberty to speak openly, boldly declared, the Process was not according to Law nor Custom: Where the Accused Per­son was so Powerful, that he could not be brought to Punishment, and the Accuser was absent for fear of his Life; therefore whatsoever should be determined there, as being against Law and Right, was null and void; yet, they persisted in their Design notwithstanding. And the Issue of the whole was, that they declared, they saw [Page 208] no reason to find Bothwell Guilty; yet if any man hereafter should lawfully accuse him, they gave a caution that this Judg­ment should be no hindrance to him; and some thought the Verdict was wisely given in by them, for the Indictment was con­ceived in such Words, that the severest Judges could ne'er have found Bothwell guilty upon it, for it was laid against a Murder committed the 9th of February, whereas the King was slain the 10th.

Thus Bothwell was acquitted of the Fact, but not of the Infamy thereof, suspicions still increasing upon him, and his punish­ment seemed only to be deferred; but any pretence whatsoever, though a shameless one, seemed good enough to the Queen, who made haste to Marry him; but as a surplusage to his Absolution, there was a Chartel or a Challenge, posted on the eminentest part of the Court, declaring, That though Bothwell was lawfully acquit­ted of the King's Murder, yet to make his Innocency the more appear, he was ready to decide the matter in a Duel against any Gentleman, or Person of Honour, that should dare to lay it to his Charge: Next morning there was one who did as man­fully post up an answer to this bold Chal­lenge, provided the place of Combate were appointed, wherein without danger he might declare his Name: But I do not find the matter proceeded any further: At the same time the Queen was very urgent [Page 209] to hasten the Marriage, and yet withall she desired by any means to procure the pub­lick Consent, that she might seem to act nothing but by the Suffrage of the Nobles; And Bothwell too, to credit the Marriage with the colour of the publick Authority, devised this Stratagem. He invited all the Nobility of the highest Rank, that were then in Town, as there were divers of them, one Night to Supper; and when they were Jocund and Merry, he desired they would shew that respect to him for the future, which they had always done here­tofore; but at present, his only request was, that whereas he was a Suiter to the Queen, they would subscribe to a Schedule which he had made about that matter, and that would be a means to procure him fa­vour with the Queen, and respect with all the People: The Lords were all amaz'd at so sudden and unexpected a motion, and could not dissemble their Sorrow, neither yet durst they refuse or deny him; where­upon a few, that knew the Queen's Mind, began first, and the rest, not foreseeing that there were so great a number of Flat­terers there present, suspected one another, and at last all subscribed; but the day af­ter, when they had recollected what they had done, some of them as ingenuously pro­fessed, they would never have granted their Consent, unless they thought the thing had been acceptable to the Queen; for besides that the matter carried no great face of [Page 210] honesty, and was prejudicial to the publick too, so there was danger, if any difference should arise (as it came to pass between her and her former Husband) between her and Bothwell also; and if he were rejected, it might be laid in their Dishes that they had betrayed the Queen to a dishonourable Marriage; and therefore before they had run too far, they resolved to try her Mind, and to procure a Writing under her hand to this purport, that she did approve of what they had done in reference to her Marriage; which Scroul was easily obtained, and by a joint Consent of them all, delivered to the Earl of Argyle to keep. Next day all the Bishops in the Town were called into Court, that they might also subscribe; this care being over, another succeeded, which was, how the Queen might get her Son into her Power; for Bothwell did not think it safe for him to have a young Child brought up, who in time might Revenge his Fathers Murder, neither was he willing that any other should come between his Children and the Crown; whereupon, the Queen, who could deny him nothing, undertook the task her self to bring the Child to Edenburg; but when she came to Sterlin, the Earl of Mar suspected what was a brewing, and therefore shewed her the Prince, but would not let him be in her Power: The Queen seeing her fraud de­tected, and not able to cope with him by force, pretended another cause for her [Page 211] Journey, and prepared to return; but on the Road, either by reason of her over­much Toll, or for Anger that her De­signs, which the Authors thought craftily laid, were unsuccessful, she was taken with a sudden illness, and was forced to retire to a poor House about four miles from Sterlin, where her pain something abating, she proceeded on her Journey, and came that Night to Linlithgow; from thence she wrote to Bothwell, by Paris, what she would have him to do about her surprize; for before she departed from Edenburg, she had Concerted with him, that at the Bridge of Almon he should surprize her in her re­turn, and carry her whither he pleased as it 'twere against her Will; the Censure of the Commonalty upon this matter was, that she could not altogether conceal her Fami­liarity with Bothwell, nor yet could well want it, nor could she openly enjoy it as she desired it, without the loss of her Reputation; it was too tedious to expect his Divorce from his former Wife, and she was willing to consult her Honour, which the pretended to have a very great regard unto, yet she would provide for her Lust also, of which she was very impatient, and therefore the Device was thought to be very pretty; that Bothwell should redeem the Queen's Infamy with his own great Crime, the punishment whereof he did not yet fear at all; but there was a deeper reach in the projected design, as came af­terward [Page 212] to be understood; for whereas the People did every where point at and curse the King's Murderers, they to pro­vide for their own security, by the per­swasion, as 'tis thought, of John Lesley Bi­shop of Ross, devised this attempt upon the Queen. 'Tis the manner in Scotland, when the King grants a Pardon for Of­fences, that he that Sues it out expresses his great Offence by name, and the rest of his Crimes are added in general Words; accordingly the King's Murderers deter­mined to ask Pardon for this surprize of the Queen by Name, and then to have added in their [...]ardons by way of over­plus, and all other wicked Facts; in which clause they persuaded themselves, that the King's Murder would be included, because it was not safe for them to name themselves Authors of it in the Pardon, neither would it be creditable for the Queen so to grant it; neither could it be well added in the grant of Pardon, as an Appendix to a les­ser Crime; another Offence, less invidious, but liable to the same punishment was to be devised, under the shaddow whereof the King's Murder might be disguised and par­doned; and no other did occur to their view but this pretended force put upon the Queen, whereby her pleasure might be satisfied, and Bothwell's security provided for too; and therefore, he, with 600 Horse, attended her coming at Almon Bridge, and carried her, by her own Consent, to Dunbar; [Page 213] where they had free Converse one with another, and a Divorce was made betwixt Bothwell and his former Wife, and that in two Courts: First, She was cited before Judges publickly appointed to decide such Controversies; and after that, before the Officials, or Bishops Courts, though they were forbid by a publick Statute, to ex­ercise any part of Magistry, or to inter­meddle with any publick: Affair; so that Madam Gordon, Bothwell's Wife, was com­pelled to Commence a Suit of Divorce, in a double Court before the Queen's Judges; and what must the Accusation be, but that her Husband was Guilty of Adultery, which was the only just cause of a Divorce amongst them, and this before the Papal Judges, who though forbidden by the Law, yet were impowered by the Archbishop of St. Andrews, to determine the Controversie: Her Allegations against him were, That before their Marriage, he had had too much unlawful or incestuous Familiarity with her Kinswoman: The Witnesses and Judges made no delay in the Case, for the Suit was commenced, prosecuted, adjudg'd and ended all in ten days.

On these emergent Occasions a great many of the honest Nobles met at Sterlin, and sent to the Queen, desiring to know of her, Whether she was kept willingly, or against her Will? If the latter, they would Levy an Army for her Deliverance. It was observed she received the Message not with­out [Page 214] Smiling, and answered them, that it was true, she was brought thither against her Will, but was so kindly treated ever since, that she had little cause to complain of the former Injury: Thus was the Mes­senger eluded; but yet, though they made all the haste they could to take off the reflection of the force, by a lawful Mar­riage, yet there were two rubs still in the way; one was, that if she Married while a Prisoner, the Marriage might not be ac­counted good, and so easily dissolved; and the other difficulty was how to have the usual Ceremonies performed, that the Bans should be published three Lord's Days in the publick Congregation, of a Marriage intended between James Hepburn and Mary Stuart, so that if any one knew a lawful Impediment, why they should not be joined together in Matrimony, they should then declare the same, that so it might be de­cided in the Church: to bring this matter therefore about, Bothwell gathers his Friends and Dependants together, resolving to bring back the Queen to Edenburg, that so under a vain shew of their Liberty, he might determine of their Marriage at his plea­sure; To this end his Companions were all armed, but as they were on their Jour­ney, a fear seiz'd on some of them, lest at one time or other it might turn to their prejudice to detain the Queen as yet a Pri­soner; and if there were no other ground for it, yet this was enough, that they ac­companied [Page 215] her in an armed manner, when all things were in Peace and Tranquillity, upon which scruple they threw away their Arms, and so brought her in a seeming more peaceable posture to Edenburg Castle, which was then in Bothwell's Power. Next day they accompanied her into the City and Courts of Justice, where she affirmed before the Judges, that she was wholly free and under no restraint at all; but as to the publishing of the Marriage in the Church, the Reader, whose Office it was, wholly refused it, which was a new Morti­fication; but upon his refusal, the Elder Deacons and Ecclesiasticks assembled, as not daring to resist, and commanded the Reader to publish the Banes according to custom; but the man was so bold, as plainly to tell them, that he himself knew a lawful Impe­diment, and was ready to declare the same to the Queen or to Bothwell when ever they pleased to Command him; whereupon he was sent for to the Castle, and the Queen remitted him to Bothwell, who, with all he could do, either by fear or favour, could not divert him from his Resolution, and yet he durst not commit the matter to a Dispute; yet on he went to hasten the Marriage, and there was none to be found besides the Bishop of Orkney to Celebrate the same, it was he alone that preferred Court favour before Truth; the rest being utterly against it, and producing Reasons, why it could not be a lawful Marriage [Page 216] with a Person that had two Wives yet li­ving, and had lately confest his own Adul­tery, and had been also Divorced from a third; yet though all good Men did loath this way of procedure, and that the Com­monalty cursed it, and even the Earls own Kindred, by Letters dissuaded him from it, while it was in prosecution, and abhorred it when done; there were some publick Ceremonies dissemblingly performed, and Married they were for all that: Those of the Nobility there present (which were but few, and they Bothwell's Friends and Crea­tures too, the rest being gone to their homes) were invited to Supper, and so was Crocke the French Ambassador, who, though he were of the Guisian Faction, and did be­sides dwell near the place, yet absolutely refused to come, as thinking it suited not with the Dignity of that Person he repre­sented, to countenance that Marriage by his presence, which he heard the common People did Curse and Abominate; and in­deed, the King of France, and Queen of England, did by their Ambassadors declare against the Turpitude of the thing; and though that was troublesome to the Queen, yet the silent sadness of the People did so much the more increase her fierce Disposi­tion, as things seen pierce deeper than things only heard. As they both went through the City, none Saluted them with wonted Acclamations, only one said, and that only but once, God save the Queen, [Page 217] whereupon, another Woman near her spoke aloud once or twice, so as the standers by might her, Let every one have what his De­sert is, which inraged her still the more a­gainst the Citizens, so that now seeing the danger she was in by the alienated Minds of her Subjects, she casts about how she might establish her Power, and first of all, she determined to send an Ambassador into France, to reconcile those Princes, and the Guises to her, whom she knew were of­fended with her precipitate Marriage, and the Bishop of Dunblain was pitch'd upon for that purpose, whose Instructions were Politickly framed, and long, and no great question made but they would do the Busi­ness: The Bishop, after his arrival in France, obtains a day of Audience, (not knowing that by this time Bothwell was forced to fly, and the Queen taken Prisoner, as you'l hear by and by) whereof the very same day the French King and his Mother had received Letters, one from Crocke the French Am­bassador in Scotland, and another from Ni­nian Cockerburn, a Scot, who had served as a Captain of Horse some years in France; The Scotch Ambassador being admitted in­to the King's Presence, made a long and ac­curate Speech, partly to excuse the Queens Marriage, without the advice of her Friends, and partly to commend Bothwell to the skies, beyond all Right and Reason; Hereupon the Queen interrupted the vain Man by shewing him the Letters she had received [Page 218] from Scotland, how that the Queen was made a Prisoner, and Bothwell sted, at which sudden ill News, the Man was astonished, and held his Peace, whilst those that were present partly jeered him, and partly smiled at this unlook'd for accident, and there were none of them all but thought she suffered deservedly.

But to return to our Domestick Affairs, the way they projected for their security was, after they had fixed those by Gifts at present, and Promises for the future, who were either Perpetrators or Partizans in the King's Murder, to make a Combination of the greater Nobility; and if that were once done, they might go on and undervalue the rest, or cut them off, if they remained ob­stinate; whereupon they assembled the No­bility, and propounded unto them, the Heads of those Capitulations they were to Swear to; the Sum of the whole was, that they should maintain the Queen and Both­well in all their Actings, and on the other­side, they were to Favour and Countenance the concerns of those of the Confederates then present; a great many were perswaded to it before, and so Subscribed; the rest perceiving it was bad to Conspire, and as dangerous to refuse, Subscribed also. But the Earl of Murray, that his Authority (which was great for his Vertue,) might give some Countenance to the thing, was sent for upon this occasion; but he after all the Tamperings with him that could be, ab­solutely [Page 219] refused to Subscribe the said Associ­ation, and thereupon got leave with much ado, to Travel; so went through England into France, where we'll leave him for a time. The Riddance of whom, as being a free Hearted and popular Man, out of the way, did not a little please the Queen, who now also endeavours to remove the other Ob­stacles to her Harmony, and those were such as would not willingly Subscribe to her Wickedness, or were not like easily to Ac­quiesce with her Designs; but she had a per­petual Hatred towards those, who perceiv­ing her to be no better affected towards her Son, then towards her former Husband, had entred into an Association at Sterling, for no Wicked Design, but to defend the Young Prince, which his Mother desired to have under the Powder of his Father-in-law, who they were sure would not fail to make away with him; the chief of that Combi­nation were the Earls of Argyle, Morton, Mar, Athol, and Glenoarn, besides others, and some of an inferior Degree, as Linsey, Boyd, with their Friends and Partners; but Argyl and Boyd were won over quickly to the Queens Party. But all this would not do, for the Families of the Humes, Carrs and Scots, living upon the English borders, and by their Scituation, as well as being other­wise Powerful, became suspected by the Queen, to have a Hand against her in this matter; and their Power she endeavoured to lessen with all her might, and there seem­ed [Page 220] a fit occasion to be offered for that pur­pose; for Bothwell was preparing an expe­dition into Liddisdale, to make amends for the Dishonour he had received there the Autumn before, and also to gain some re­putation by his Arms, to take off the Envy of the Kings Death; all the chief of the Fa­milies in Teviotdale, were commanded by the Queen, to come to the Castle of Eden­burgh, that there for so [...] short time, they might be secure, as in a free Custody, upon a pretence, that they might not be lead in­to an expedition, which did not seem like­ly to be successfully accomplished against their Wiles, and they also, if at liberty, might disturb the Design, out of Envy, and in their absence, she might inure the Clans, to the Government of others, and so by Degrees, wear off the Love of their Old Patrons and Masters; but they well ima­gining, there was some deeper Project con­cealed under that Command, went home by Night, all except Andrew Carr, who was commonly reputed not to be ignorant of the King's Murder, and another Carr at Sea­ford, an harmless innocent Person; this ex­asperated the rest, and Hume being often summoned by Bothwell to come to Court, refused so to do, as knowing what his thoughts were towards him; notwithstand­ing the Design for the Expedition went forward, and the Queen stayd at Borthwick Castle, about eight Miles from Edenburgh; in the mean time, the Prince's Assassinators, [Page 221] being not ignorant of Bothwell's Design, towards him, thought it now necessary to proceed to Action, not only for their own security, but also that by demanding Justice upon the Author of the King's Murder, they might acquit the Scottish Name, from the Infamy, under which it lay among Fo­reign Nations; and therefore supposing the Common People would follow their moti­ons, they privily levyed about Two thou­sand Horse, so that the Queen knew nothing of what was acted, till they came to Borth­wick Castle, with part of the Army, and Besieged her and Bothwell therein; but the other part of the Conspirators not coming at the time appointed, and she having not force enough to stop all passage, and was not so active neither as he might have been, because the rest had neglected their Parts. First, Bothwell made his escape, and after him the Queen, and went directly to Dum­bar; hereupon the Associators proceeded to lay Siege to Edenburgh Castle, with whom the Citizens joyned, but the Governor James Balfour, tho' he seem'd to have a dis­position to come over to their Party, and by Surrendring the Castle to make atone­ment for his former miscarriages, yet he did not so readily do it, but that some elasted first, which gave the Queen and her Party opportunity to grow strong, so that they who were but a little before in despair, grew now bold, and thought to cope with their Adversaries; and to that purpose [Page 222] marched to Leith with a flow pace, and taking time to distribute Arms to the Country People that came in to her by the way; at length, a little before night, they came to Seaton, and because they could not be quartered there, they divided their numbers into two Neighbouring Villages, both called Preston; from whence a fearful alarm was brought to Edenburg before midnight, and presently the word was given, To your Arms; upon this they rose out of their Beds, and made all the haste they could into the adjoyning Fields, and there having gathered a good Body together by Sun-rising, they set themselves in Battle Array; thence they marched to Mussel­borough, to pass the River Eske, before the Bridge and Ford were possessed by the Ene­my, but meeting no body, and perceiving no noise at all, they placed Guards and Sentinels there, and went to refresh them­selves with Food: In the mean time, the Scouts seeing a few Horsemen, draw them into the Village, but durst not follow them further for fear of an Ambuscade, so that they brought back no certain news of the Army, only that the Enemy was a march­ing, whereupon the Vindicators of Liber­ty marching out of Musselburg, saw the Enemy standing in Battle Array upon the Brow of a Hill over against them, and that they kept their Ground; the Hill being so steep, that they could not come at them without prejudice, they drew a little off [Page 223] to the Right, both to have the Sun on their Backs, and also to gain an easier ascent, that they might Fight upon more advantageous Terms, and this design of theirs deceived the Queen, who thought they had fled, and were marching to Dal­keith, a Neighbouring Town of the Earl of Morton's, and that the terrour of her Royal Name was so great, that they durst not withstand; but she quickly found, That Authority, as 'tis acquired by good Arts, so may be quickly lost by bad, and that Majesty, destitute of Virtue, is soon brought to nothing. When they had refresht themselves, and quenched their Thirst, which much an­noy'd them before, as soon as ever they got a fit place, they divided their Army into two Bodies: The Earl of Morton commanded the first, with Alexander Hume and his Vassals; The second was con­ducted by the Earls of Glencarne, Marr, and Athol; and when they were thus ready to give the onset, the French Ambassador came to them, and by his Interpreter, told them, How he had always studied the Good and Tranquillity of Scotland, and that he was still of the same Mind, and therefore earnestly desired, if possible, the matter might be decided to the satis­faction of both Parties, without Arms or Bloodshed, wherein he offerred his Service, alledging, that the Queen also was not averse from Peace, and to induce them the more to believe it, he told them, she [Page 224] would grant a present Pardon and Obli­vion of what was done, and faithfully pro­mised, that they should all be Indemnified, for taking up Arms against the Supream Magistrate; to which the Earl of Morton answered, That they had not taken up Arms against the Queen, but against the late King's Murderers, who, if she would deliver up to punishment, or sever her self from him, then she should understand that they and their Fellow Subjects de­sired nothing more than to persist in their Duty to her, otherwise no agreement could be made; and to this, Glencarne added, That they came not thither to receive Pardon for taking up Arms, but to give; and so the Ambassador seeing no good was to be done, craved leave to depart, and returned to Edenburg, re infecta: In the mean time the Queen's Army kept it self within the antient Camp-Bounds of the English, and it was a place naturally higher than the rest, and besides fortified with a Work and a Ditch, from whence Bothwell shewed himself mounted on a brave Steed, and proclaimed by an He­rauld, that he was ready to engage in a single Combat with any of the adverse Party: Hereupon James Murray, a young Nobleman, offerred himself from the other Army, being the same Person that had done so before by a Cartel, but supprest his Name, (as has been already said) but Bothwell refused him, alledging, he was not [Page 225] a fit Match for him, neither in Dignity nor Estate; then came forth his Elder Brother William, affirming, that if Money matters were subduced, he was as power­ful as Bothwell, but his Superiour both in Antiquity of Family, and Integrity of Re­pute, but Bothwell rejected him also, as being lately but made a Knight, and so forth; At last, Patrick Lindsey, a Person of the first Rank, desired as the only re­ward of all his Labours, which he had un­dergone, to maintain the Honour of his Country, that he might be permitted to Fight with Bothwell ▪ but Bothwell, who in the main had no Stomach to Fight, ex­cepted against him too, and not knowing how creditably to come off, the Queen interposed her Authority, and forbidding the Fight, ended the Controversie; then marching through the Army on Horse­back▪ she tryed how they all stood affected; but to her great (disappointment and sor­row, she found no great disposition in the Men to fight: They said there were a great many brave Soldiers in the adverse Army, and that it was sitter for Bothwell, whose chief Quarrel it was, to try it out in a single Duel, than that he [...] Majesty's Person, and so many Men's Lives should be hazarded upon the account, but that if she were fully resolved to Fight, it was best to defer it till too morrow, for it was said, the Hamiltons were coming with a Body of 500 Horse, and were not far [Page 226] off, with the conjunction of whose Forces, they might then the more safely advise about the main concern; for at that time the Earl of Huntley, and John Hamilton Archbishop of St. Andrews, had gathered their Clans to Hamilton, and the day after were coming to the Queen; where­upon she gnashed her Teeth, and fell to Weeping, uttering many reproachful Words against her Nobles, and by a Messenger, desired of the contrary Army, that they would send William Kireadie of Grange to her, that she would Discourse with him about Conditions of Peace; in the inte­rim, the Army should not advance, ne [...] ­ther did the adverse Army proceed, but stood near and in a low place, so as that the Enemies Ordinance might not annoy them: Whilst the Queen was conferring with Kircadie, Bothwell was bid to shift for himself, (for that was it she aim'd a [...] by pretending a Conference) who made such fearful haste to Dunbar, that he comman­ded two Horsemen that accompanied him, to return back again, such a load of Guilt lay upon his Mind, that he could hardly trust his own Friends; From whence he went to the Orcades, and for a time exer­cised Piracy thereabouts, but being at last pursued by some Scotch Ships fitted out for that purpose, he with much ado made his escape, and sailed for Denmark, where giving no good account of himself, whence [Page 227] he came, or whither he was bound, and afterward being known of some Mer­chants, he was clapt up a close Prisoner, where after ten years nasty Confinement, and other Miseries, he at last grew Mad, and came to a Death suitable to his base and wicked Life.

The Queen, when she thought he was out of danger, (though she shall ne'er see his Face more) articled with Kircade, That the rest of the Army should march quietly home, and so she came with him to the Nobles, Clothed only with a Tu­nicle, and that a mean and threadbare one too, reaching but a little below her Knees, a sad spectacle; Of the Van of the Army she was received, not without Demonstra­tion of their former Reverence; but when she desired that they would dismiss her, to meet the Hamiltons, who were said to be coming on, promising to return again, and commanding Mor [...]on to undertake for her, for she hoped by fair promises to do what she would, and finding she could not obtain her Request, she burst forth into bitter Language, and upbraided also the Commanders with what she had done for them, which they heard also with silence; but when she came to the second Body, they all unanimously cried out, Burn the Whore, burn the Parricide, and had withall a sad spectacle presented before her Eyes, for the late King her Husband was painted in one of the Banners, Dead, and his [Page 228] little Son by him, craving vengeance of God for the Murder; and this Banner was carried before her whithersoever she went: She Swooned at the first sight of it, and could scarce be kept upon her Horse, but recovering her self, she re­mitted nothing of her former fierceness, uttering Threats and Reproaches, shedding Tears, and manifesting other concomi­tant Signs of Womens Grief. In her march she made all the delay she could, expecting, if any Aid did come from else­where, but none appear'd: At last, she came to Edenburg a little before Night her Face being covered with Dust and Tears, as if dirt had been cast upon it all the People running to see the specta­cle: She past through a great part of the City in great silence, the multitude lea­ving her so narrow a passage, that scarce one could go a Breast; when she was go­ing up to her Lodging, one Woman of the Company prayed for her, but she turn­ing to the People told them, besides other Menaces, that she would Burn the City, and quench the Fire with the Blood of the persidious Citizens; having got into her Apartment, she shewed her self Weep­ing out of the Window, and there was a great concourse of People without, some of whom did Commiserate the sudden change of her Fortune; but it was not long e'er the former Banner was held out to her, whereupon she shut the Window [Page 229] and flung in After she had been there two days, she was sent Prisoner by the Nobles Order to a Castle situated in Laugh-Le [...]in.

But now the whole Conspiracy against the late King comes out; for while these matters were thus agitated, Bothwell had sent one of his faithfullest Servants into Edenburg Castle, to bring him a silver Cabinet, which had been sometimes Fran [...]is's King of France, as appear'd by the Cy­phers on the out side of it, wherein were Letters Writ, almost all, with the Queen's own Hand, in which the King's Murder, and the things that followed, were clearly discovered, and it was written in almost all of them, that as soon as he had read them, he should burn them; but Bothwell knowing the Queen's Inconstancy, a [...] ha­ving had many evident Examples of it in a few years, had preserved the Letters, that so if any difference should happen to arise between them, he might use them as a testimony for himself, and thereby de­clare, that he was not the Author, but only a Party in the King's Murder; Bal­four, the Governor, did deliver the Cabi­net to Bothwell's Servant, but withall in­formed the Chief of the Adverse Party, what he had sent, whither and by whom; whereupon they took him, and found in the Letters great and mighty matters con­tained, which though before shrewdly sus­pected, yet could never so clearly be made [Page 230] forth: but nothing could induce the Queen to separate her Interest from him, and when she was urged to it with Reasons to her advantage; she fiercely answered, That she would rather live with him in the utmost Ad­versity, than without him in the Royallest Con­dition. The Hamilton's, who were very powerful, made some stir yet on her be­half in opposition to the Adverse Party, who were now going to advance her Son, though an Infant, into her Throne, which she was forced to submit to, and to name him Governor, whereof the Earl of Murray, though absent then beyond Sea, was one, who returning soon after, was chosen sole Regent of the Kingdom, and confirmed in the same by the Authority of the Parliament that succeeded; but a­bout the Queen they differed in their Opinions; for it appearing by many te­stimonies and proofs, especially by her own Letters to Bothwell, that the whole Plot of the Bloody Fact was laid by her, some being moved with the Heinousness of the thing, and others being afterwards made acquainted therewith by her; lest they themselves should be punished as accessary to so odious a Crime, to remove her testimony out of the way, voted, That she should suffer the utmost extremity of the Law; but the major part only sen­tenced her to be kept a Prisoner; but though she escaped now, the time came wherein she lost her Head for but attempt­ing [Page 231] a Fact of the like Nature with this she was now charged with. In the mean time, the Hamiltons, with whom the Earls of Argyle and Huntley joyned themselves, with some others, were sollicitous about the Queen's Restoration and Liberty; and the Queen, not to be wanting on her part, to promote their Endeavours, having won some of the Regents Relations, and bribed the Master of a Vessel, and taking occasion to send her other Companions about frivo­lous Errands, was secretly by him con­veyed out of the Lough where she was kept: Her escape being told those who were then at Dinner in the Castle, they made a great stir but to little pur­pose, for all the Boats were haled ashore, and their loop holes to put out their Oars, were all stopped up, that so no speedy pursuit might be made: She was no sooner got out of the Lough, but that there were Horsemen ready on the other side to receive her, who carried her to the several Houses of the Partisans in the Design, and the day after to Hamilton, a Town 8 miles distant from Glasgow, and and at the noise thereof many resorted to her, and in a short time she gathered an Army of about 6500 men: In the mean time the Regent was not idle, but got together what force he could at Glasgow, yet not enough to equal their number; however, understanding that the Enemy designed to march by Glasgow, and to leave the Queen in Dunbarton Castle, and [Page 232] so either to fight or lengthen out the War as they pleased; or if they found him to be so bold as to stop their passage, which they believed he durst not do, they resolved then to Fight, and were confi­dent they should beat him; and the Re­gent, (I say) understanding this, resolved to be before hand with them, and to urge them to Fight as soon as ever he could, and to that end drew out his Men into the open Field before the Town, the way that he thought the Enemy would march, and there for some hours waited for them in Battle Array; but when he saw their Troops pass by on the other side of the River, he presently understood their de­sign, and commanded his Foot to pass over the Bridge, and his Horse to Ford over the River, which they might do, it being low Water, and so to march to Langside, which was a Village by the Ri­ver Carth, where the Enemy were to pass, situated at the foot of a Hill to the South-West; the passage on the East and North was steep, but on the other side there was a gentle descent into a plain, thither the Regent and his Army hasted with such speeed that they had near possest the Hill before the Enemy, who aimed at the same place, understood their design, tho' they marched thither by a nearer cut; but there were two things that did very much contribute to the advantage of the Regent and his Party▪ as they were no [Page 233] less a disadvantage to the Queen and her Followers; for the Earl of Argyle, who on the Queen's part commanded in chief, fell suddenly down from his Horse, sick, and by his fall much retarded the march of his Party; the other was, that their Forces being placed here and there in lit­tle Vallies, could never see all their Ene­mies at once, whose paucity (as indeed they were not many) made the other des­pise them, and the disadvantage of the place to: At last, when the Queen's Forces drew nigh, and saw the Ground they aimed at taken up by the Enemy, they advanced to another little Hill over against them, and there divided their Party into two Bodies; so did the other Party into two Wings, placing their Musketeers in the Village and Gardens below, near the Highway. Both Armies being thus Mar­shalled in Battle Array, the Queen's Can­noneers and Foot were driven from their Posts by the Regents Forces; on the other hand the Regents Horse, being fewer in number, were beat back by the Enemy; and when they had performed that Ser­vice, they endeavoured also to break the Battalions of Foot, in order whereunto they charged directly up the Hill, but were beat back by the Archers placed there, and by some of those who after their rout, had rallied again, and joyned with the rest of their Body: In the mean time the Left Wing of the Enemy marched [Page 234] by the Highway, where there was a rising Ground, lower down into the Valley, where tho' they were gall'd by the Re­gents Musketeers, yet passing by those straits, they opened and rang'd their Body: There it was the two Battalions held out a thick stand of Pikes, as a Breast­work before them, and fought desperately for half an hour, without giving ground on either side, insomuch that they whose long Pikes were broke, threw Daggers, Stands, pieces of Pikes, or Launces, yea, whatever they could come at, into their Enemies Faces; but some of the hinder­most Ranks of the Regents Forces begin­ning to fly away, (whither for fear or treachery is uncertain) no doubt their flight had much disordered those who stood to it, unless the Ranks had been so thick, that the foremost did not well know what the hindmost did; then they which were in the second Battalion, taking notice of the danger, and perceiving no Enemy coming to Charge them, sent some whole Troops to wheel to the Right, and to joyn with the first, whereupon the adverse Party could not bear their Charge, but were wholly routed and put to flight; but the Regent, upon the pursuit, forbid the Execution. The Queen stood about a mile from the place to behold the Battle, and after the discomfiture, fled with some Horsemen of her Party, who had escaped out of the Battle, towards England, (from [Page 235] whence she shall never return to see her Native Country more) being arrived at a place called Workinton in the County of Cumberland, she dispatched away a Letter to Queen Elizabeth, full of Complaints of hard usage in Scotland, and craving her Assistance and Protection, and leave to come to her; but the Queen denied her access, and ordered her to be conveyed to Carlisle, from whence she wrote again to the Queen, which brought her case un­der the Deliberation of the English Coun­cil, who at last resolved to detain her in England; till such time as she should give satisfaction for Usurping the English Arms, and answered for the Death of the Lord Darnley her Husband for Darnley's Mo­ther, the Countess of Lennox, had of late grievously complained to Queen Elizabeth about it, and earnestly besought her to call her to a Tryal for the Murder of her Son, as Mr. Cambd [...]n in his History of Queen Elizabeth has it.

But because her Detention in England might appear to be just in all Foreign Courts, Secretary Cecil, and others of the Council prevailed with Murray the Scots Regent to come into England, to accuse her before such Commissioners as Queen Elizabeth should appoint, and the place of meeting was to be York; and to that end the Duke of Norfolk, and the Earl of Sussex, with several other Councellors, went to York to hear the Regents accusa­tion: [Page 236] It was observed, the Duke delay'd to receive the Accusation, but at last speaks to Secretary Lidington, that before that time he had ever esteemed him a Wise Man until that time he came before Strangers to accuse the Queen his Mistress, as if England were Judge over the Princes of Scotland, but continued the Duke, how could you find in our Heart to dishonour the King's Mother, or how could you an­swer afterward for what you were doing, seeing it tended to hazard the King her Sons Right to England, intending to bring his Mothers Honesty in question; it had been rather the Duty of you her Sub­jects, to cover her Imperfections, if she had any, remitting to God, and Time to punish and put order thereto, who is the only Judge over Princes: Lidingtown shew­ing his Innocence and Desire to have the accusation supprest, the Duke asked if the Regent could keep secret, and being thereof assured by Lidingtown, he took oc­casion next day to enter into a Conference with the Regent, and after some prelimi­nary Discourse, spoke to him to this effect: That he would be very faithful to the Queen his Mistress as long as she lived, but that she was too careless what might come after her, about the Peace and Wel­fare of her Country, tho' it was the Inte­rest of the Kingdom of England to take greater notice thereof, by determining the Succession, to prevent Troubles that [Page 237] otherwise might ensue, that tho' they had divers times essay'd to do something there­in at every Parliament, yet their Queen had evidenced great discontent thereat, shewing thereby that she cared not what Blood was shed after her for the Right and Title of the English Crown, which consisted only in the Person of the Queen and King of Scotland her Son, which had been put out of doubt ere now if matters had not fallen out, so unhappily at home, and yet he and other Noblemen of Eng­land, as Fathers of their Country, were minded to be careful thereof, watching their opportunity▪ but that they wondred what could move him to come there and accuse their Queen; for albeit she had done or suffered▪ harm to be done to the King her Husband yet there was respect to be had to the Prince her Son, upon whom he and many in England had fixed their Eyes, as Mr. M [...]lvill, who had been late Ambassador there could testifie▪ he therefore wished that the Queen should not be accused▪ nor dishonoured for that to her Sons sake and for respect to the right both had to succeed to the Crown of of England, and further the Duke said, I am sent to bear your Accusation, but neither will I, nor the Queen my Mistress, give out any Sentence upon the Accusation, and that you may understand the verity of this point more clearly, you shall do well the next time that I require you be­fore [Page 238] the Council, to give in your Accusa­tion in Writing, to demand again my Mi­stress's Seal and Hand Writing, (before you shew your Folly) that in case you ac­cuse, she shall immediately Convict, and give out her Sentence according to the proof of the matter, otherwise that you will not open the Pack; which if her Ma­jesty shall refuse to grant unto you, which doubtless she will do, then assure your self that my Information is true, and take oc­casion hereupon to stay from further Accu­sation.

This Discourse catched the Regent, and he promised to comply therewith in every part, and so at the next meeting with the Council, demanded the foresaid security from the Queen, before he would give in his Accusation, hereupon they sent Post to Court to know what to do, and the Queen's answer was, That being a true Princess, her Word and Promise would be abundantly sufficient, Cecill and Wood (the Regents Secretary) were amazed at this manner of procedure, and therefore it was advised to desire the Lords on both sides to come from York to Court, where the Queen was able to give more ready an­swers and resolves: In the mean time, the Duke, Regent, and Lidingtown, put their Heads together, and agreed, That the Regent should by no means consent to accuse the Queen, and that the Duke should obtain to him the Queen's Favour, [Page 239] with a Confirmation of the Regency, and so would go on as sworn Brethren, the one to Rule Scotland, and the other Eng­land, &c. When the Regent was arrived at Hampton-Court, where the Queen then resided, he was daily prest to give in his Accusation, especially by those about him, who thought it strange, that he should be so slow, until at length they were ad­vertised by one of the Lords of the Queen's [...]action, of all that had past between the Regent, and Duke of Norfolk, for the Duke had secretly given the Queen of Scots no­tice of what he had done, she to one of her Confidents, who advertised the Earl of Morton of the whole; Morton took it very ill that the Regent should engage in any such thing without his knowledge, but before either he or his Friends would take upon them to know any thing of the matter, they consult together and resolve to get Mr. John Wood to acquaint Cecil with the whole, desiring him to press for­wards the Accusation, wherein of himself he was abundantly eager; They left no­thing and one for their part to effectuate the same, putting the Regent in hopes one while, that the Queen would give her Hand and Seal, that she would Convict the Queen of Scots if he accused her; others of the firmest of them▪ persuaded him that she would ne'er give it under Hand and Seal, designing thereby to distract him, to see what he would do in case he ob­tain'd [Page 240] his Desire: Mr. Wood said it was fit to carry in all the Writs to the Coun­cil, and he would keep the Accusation in his Bosom, and would not deliver it till the thing demanded of the Queen was first granted.

The rest of the Regents, Lords and Councellors, had concluded among them­selves, that as soon as the Duke of Norfolk as chief of the Council, should require the Accusation, they would all with one Voice persuade the Regent to give it in; Li­dingtown and Sir James Melvill prest the Regent to remember his Engagements to the Duke, who replied, he would do well enough, and that it would not come to that length; and being accordingly brought before the Council, the Duke demanded the Accusation, the Regent required assu­rance from the Queen for the Prosecution, in case he gave it in [...] to this it was an­swered as before, that the Queen was a true Princess, and that her Word was sufficient, and all the Council cryed, Would he di­strust the Queen, who had given such proof of her Friendship to Scotland? The Re­gents Council chimed in with them, and said the same thing; whereupon Cecill [...]ed, If they had the Accusation there; yes, says Mr. Wood, and with that pluckt it out of his Bosom, but I will not deliver it says he till her Majesty's Hand and Seal be de­livered to the Regent for what he demands; he had no sooner said the Words, but the [Page 241] Bishop of Orkney snatch'd the Paper out of his hand, saying, Let me have it, I'll pre­sent it, Wood ran after him, as if he would have taken him, but up gets the Bishop to the Council Board, and gives in the Accu­sation, which made the Lord Chamber­lain of England cry out, Well done Bishop, thou art the frankest Fellow among them all, none of them will make thy leap good, meaning his former leaping out of the Lord Grang's Ship to save himself; but Lidingtown seeing the Regents unconstancy, rounds him in the Ear, that he had disgraced himself, and put his Life in danger by the loss of so good a Friend as the Duke of Norfolk, and that he had lost his Reputation for ever.

The Regent soon repents his Folly, and desires to have the Accusation again, alledg­ing he had some more to add thereto; but was answered, That they would keep what they had, and were ready to receive any addition he should please to give in: The Duke of Norfolk had much ado to keep his Countenance, Wood tip'd the wink upon Cecil, who smiled upon him again; the Regents company were Laughing, only Lid­ingtown had a sorrowful Heart, and the Re­gent himself left the Council with Tears in his Eyes, and retired to his Lodgings at Kingstown, and continued there for a long time in great displeasure and fear, without Money to spend, or hopes to get any from the Queen. In the mean time, the Agree­ment between the Duke and Regent was [Page 242] told the Queen: for Morton caused one John Willock to declare what had past be­tween them to the Earl of Huntingdon, who caused the Lord Leicester to acquaint the Queen therewith. The Duke finding how all things stood, thought to out-brave it, and stuck not to tell the Queen her self, While he lived he would ne'er Offend her, but Serve and Honour her, and after her, the Queen of Scots, as in his Opinion, truest Heir, and the only means for saving of Civil Wars and much Bloodshed that might fall out; which Words were as a Dagger to the Queen's Heart, though for the time she dissembled her Displeasure; but to fur­ther this great Man's Fall, though Sir Ni­cholas Throgmorton seemed to mean honestly, he got the Duke and Regent reconciled again, and then the Duke declared to him, that he was resolved to marry the Queen of Scots, his Mistress, and that he would never permit her to come into Scotland, nor yet that she should ever Rebel against the Queen of England during her time, and also that he had a Daughter who would be a fitter Match for King James than any other for many Reasons, and so procured the Sum of Two Thousand Pounds from the Queen for the Regent, for which him­self became security, and was forced after­ward to pay the same: When the Regent had got the Money, he was easily induced by some about him, to acquaint the Queen with all that had past between the Duke and [Page 243] himself, and withall engaged to transmit back unto her all the Letters which the Duke should write to him when he came into Scot­land, which was done accordingly: The Duke was then the greatest Subject in Eu­rope, he Ruled the Queen, and all those that were familiar with her, and was Courted by all Factions, both Protestants and Papists, both paying him a very great Deference, and at that time commanded all the North of England, and it was in his Power to have set the Queen of Scots at liberty if he had pleased; but when the Queen had had his Letters from Scotland, she sent for the Duke to come to Court, whereupon he first posted in haste to Secretary Cecil, on whose Ad­vice and Friendship he much relied, who told him, there was no danger, he might come and go at his Pleasure, no man would, or durst offend him, and so the Duke only with his own Train came to Court, Cecil in the mean time informed the Queen, that the necessity of the time obliged her not to omit this occasion, but to take the mat­ter stoutly upon her self, and forthwith command her Guards to lay hands upon the Duke, or else no other durst do it, which if she did not at this time, she would en­danger the safety of her Crown: The Queen embraced the Advice, and so orders the Duke to be secured, when he thought all England was at his Devotion, who after a long Impri­sonment, was Executed, ending his Life, (as Sir James Melvill says) devoutly in the Re­formed Religion.

[Page 244]From, Carlisle this forlorne Queen was removed to Bolton, under the custody of Sir Francis Knowles, and from thence to Tutbury, under the Care of the Earl of Shrewsbury, and in whose custody she re­mained for the space of Fifteen years; but the many Attempts made for her Liberty, and other more dangerous suspicions in­creasing against her, caused her to be com­mitted to the keeping of Sir Anias Pawlet, and Sir Drue Druery, where she sollicited with more greater importunity than ever, the Bishop of Rome, and the Spaniard by Sir Francis Inglefield, to hasten what they had in hand with all speed against the Queen of England, whatever became of her; and at length, holding correspondence with Babington and the rest of the Conspi­rators against Queen Elisabeth's Life, which you may read in Cambden's Elizabeth at large; this drew on the fatal Day, where­on she was to be called to an account for what she had done; and to this end it was agreed to have her Tryed upon the late Statute made against such as should attempt any violence against the Queen's Person, &c. and 24 Lords, and others of inferior Degree, were Commissionated by the Queen's Patent for her Tryal, who met Octob. 11. 1586. in Fothringham Castle in the County of Northampton, where the Queen of Scots was then in custody, and next day sent Sir Walter Mildmay and others to her, with the Queen's Letter about her Crimes and [Page 245] Tryal; which when she had read, she com­plained of her ill usage, excused her carri­age, and seemed to question the Commissi­oners Authority, but they justify their Au­thority, and advise her to appear to her Tryal; but she excepted against the new Law, and required to have her Protestati­on admitted, which was denied; at length she is brought on the 14th Day to appear, to whom Bromley the Chancellor made a Speech, how Queen Elizabeth their Sove­reign being informed of her Conspiracies against her Life, she was now called upon to Answer for the same, and to clear her self if she could, and make her Innocency appear to the World; here she would have urged her Protestation again, of being no Subject of England, but a Crowned Head, but that being again rejected, she submitted her self to a Trial, and after a long Hearing, and several proofs made of her being privy to the Design against the Queen's Life; and of her intention to con­vey her Title and Claim to the Kingdom of England, to the Spaniard, &c. The Court Adjourned till the 25th of October, to the Star-Chamber at Westminster, at what time Wacee and Curle her Secretaries, did viva voce, voluntarily, and without hope of Reward, avow all and every the Letters and Cop [...]es of Letters produced at the Trial to be True and Real, upon which, Sen­tence was pronounced against her, and Ra­tified by the Seals and Subscriptions of the Commissioners, in these words:

[Page 246]By their unanimous Consent they do Pro­nounce and Declare this judicial Verdict, and say, that after the end of the said Par­liament (specified in the Commission) viz. After the first of June in the Seven and twentieth year of the Queen, divers Mat­ters were compassed and imagined in Eng­land by Anthony Babington and others, with the Privity of Mary Queen of Scots, pre­tending Title to the Crown of England, tending to the hurt, death and destruction of the Royal Person of our Sovereign La­dy the Queen: and furthermore, that af­ter the said Day and Year, and before the Date of our Commission, the said Mary, hath compassed and imagined in this King­dom of England, divers Matters tending to the hurt, death and destruction of the Roy­al Person of our said Sovereign, against the Form of the Statute specified in the said Commission. Soon after a Parliament was called, wherein the House of Peers, by the Chancellor, petitioned the Queen, that the Sentence might be promulgated; and withal, besought Her Majesty for the Safety of Her Person and Kingdoms, to exe­cute Justice on the Queen of Scots; the Queen in her Answer, shewed a great re­luctancy to cut her off; but concluded with Her Thanks for their Care and Advice; but in a case of so great consequence, said, She would not be rash, but consider, and some Twelve days after desir'd the Parlia­ment to consult some other way of Safety, [Page 247] and to spare the Queen of Scots, but they persisted in their former Advice, so that some time after the Sentence was pro­claimed throughout London, and all the Kingdom: King James upon the news, sends one Kieth to Queen Elisabeth, to inter­cede on his Mothers behalf, and after him came the Master of Gray, and Sir Robert Melvill, to whom She said, She was sorry no way could be found out, to Save their King's Mother, and secure her own Life; they offer Pledges of the Scots Nobility for Her Security; and wondred what should move any Man to attempt any thing against Her Majesty for Queen Mary's sake; be­cause, said Queen Elisabeth, they think She shall succeed me, and She a Papist; they to salve this Proposed, that the Right of Succession might be made over in King James's Person, and this would cut off the hopes of the Papists, and they were sure Queen Mary would readily resign all her Right to Her Son; but Queen Elisabeth urged, She had no Right, being Declar'd uncapable of Succession, tho' the Papists would not allow her Declaration, and this brought them again to press the Resig­nation, but the Earl of Liecester, who stood by, objected, that Queen Mary being a prisoner, she could not deny't: the Scots Answer, That it being made to her Son, with the Advice of all her Friends in Eu­rope, in case Queen Elisabeth should mis­carry, none will partake with the Mother [Page 248] against her Son, &c. Here the Queen mis­understanding the Ambassador's meaning, was told that the King would be in his Mother's Place; Say you so, said she, 'Sdeath, that were to cut my own Throat; he shall ne'r come to that place and be Par­ty with me; and added, Well, tell your King what I have done for him to keep the Crown on his Head, since he was Born, and for my part, I shall keep the League betwixt us, and if he break it, it shall be a double Fault, and in passion got away; Melvill followed her, praying respite of Execution; not an Hour, said she, and so they parted. Some time after she Signed a Warrant for a Mandate fitted for the Great Seal, for her Execution, and en­trusted the same with Davidson, one of her Secretaries, to be in a readiness in case of danger; but he too hastily got it to pass the Seal, which some said, she would af­terwards have recalled, but was prevented by the earnest prosecution of Beal, Clerk of the Council, who was sent by them to the Earls of Shrewsbury, Kent, Derby and Cumberland, to take care of her Executi­on, unknown to the Queen; for it was said, that she should tell Davidson at that in­stant that she was resolved of another way then by death; the Earls arriving at Fothe­ringham Castle in Northamptonshire, where she was detained, gave her notice on Mon­day, Feb. 6. 1586. to prepare for Death the Wednesday next following, but one; [Page 249] when the fatal day came, she was cloath­ed in Black, had an Agnus Dei about her Neck, a pair of Beads at her Girdle, with a Golden Cross at the end of them, and so passed through the Hall, and mounted the Scaffold, raised Two Foot high, and Twelve broad, Railed about, with a low Stool, a Cushion, and a Block, all cover­ed with Black; being set down, the Lords and the Sheriffs of the County stood on her Right Hand, Sir Annias Paulet and Drewry on her Left; the two Executioners, one the Common Hangman of London, and the other of the County, standing before her, and the Knights and Gentlemen placed round about without the Rail; Silence being made, the Clerk of the Council, ha­ving read the Commission for her Execu­tion, the People shouted and cryed, God Save our Queen; then Dr. Fletcher, Dean of Peterborough standing before her, gave her several Godly Exhortations, as preparato­ry for her Death, but she little regarded him, and at last interrupted him, saying he needed not trouble himself, that she was a Roman Catholick, and so forth, then the Earls offered to join in Prayer with her, that she might be enlightned in the true Faith, but that she refused to do, say­ing, she would use her own Devotions; then they required the Dean to Pray, who did it with an audible Voice, the Queen all the while sitting on her Stool, with a Latin Prayer Book in her Hand, a Cruci­fix [Page 250] and a pair of Beads, and not minding what he said; when the Dean had done, the Queen with her own People, all in Tears Prayed aloud in Latin, and conclu­ded her self with an English Prayer, pro­fessing to be Saved by Christ's Blood, and thereupon kissed the Crucifix; then her Women begun to undress her, and one of the Executioners taking from her Neck the Agnus Dei tyed behind, the Queen laid hold on it, gave it to her Women, saying, he should have Money; but she suffered them and her Women to take off her Chain and Apparrel in some haste, always smiling, and put off her strait Sleeves with her own Hands, hindring the Fellow who rudely offer'd at it, to do it; and now being in her Petticoat and Kirtle, prepared for Death; she crossed and kissed her Wo­men, who were lamentably skreeking and crying, and crossed also her Men-Servants who stood without the Rails, and then kneeled upon her Cushion, saying in Latin the whole Psalm, In te Domine confido, ne eoufundas in aeternum, and groping for the Block, laid down her Head, putting her Chin over the Block with both her Hands, and held them there, which might have been cut off with her Head, had they not been timely espyed: being thus fixed, while one of the Executioners gently held her down, the other, with two stroaks with the Axe, severed her Head from her Body, leaving only a little Gristle uncut, without [Page 251] the least stir or motion of the Body; and lifting up her Head, said, God Save our Queen; her Lips moved for about a Quar­ter of an Hour after, and her Head-Cloaths falling off, her Head appeared as Grey as if shee had been Seventy years old, where­as she was but Forty six. Having thus brought this unhappy Queen to her fatal Catastrophe, we now return to her Son James VI. who notwithstanding afterward his vain [...]oast of his inherent Birth-right, when he came to be King of England, du­ring her long Captivity in England, being above 18 years, possest her Throne in Scotland; he was Born on the 19th of June, in the year 1566, and about Fourteen Months after Crowned King in his Mo­ther's stead, she being forced by the No­bles to resign to him. The Kingdom, du­ring some part of his Minority, was Go­verned by the Earl of Murray, as Regent, but he being murthered basely by one Ha­milton at Lithgow; Matthew Stuart Earl of Lenox, the King's Grandfather was advan­ced into his room; during whose Regen­cy two Factions continued as before, the one for the young King, and the other for the Deposed Queen: but by the means of Sir James Melvill and others, the Queen was brought upon the point of Agreement with the Regent; but the Earl of Morton returning to Court, he and Randolph the English Ambassador suspecting the probabili­ty of such an apparent agreement, which [Page 252] had been kept secret from them, they fell a plotting which way to obstruct the same, and resolved, as the most probale means to have a Parliament convened, and therein got all the Queens Lords forefaulted, whereby the Regent should utterly ruin the ancient Families of the Hamiltons; and this would afford a bait to every one of the King's Lords, seeing they should be made sharers of the spoil, and every one of them get wealth enough; Mr. Randolph for their incouragement, gave them assurance from England, so as they needed not fear any resistance from their Adversaries; and Morton to clench the Nail, First represented in Council, that the Queen's Lords had an intention to re-establish Popery; upon which Allegation he knew he would make them odious to the generality of the People, and upon their being Forefaulted, that each of them should have a share of the said Lord's Estates, which brought the Coun­cil readily to consent to a Parliament, to be held at Sterling to the same purpose. The Queen's Lords to be even with them, held another Parliament at Edenburgh, at the same time, and with the same Design of Forefaulting, as the King's Lords; in the mean time the Laird of Grainge was highly concerned at those violent proceedings, wherefore he sent for the Laird of Fer in haste, and Buccleugh, to come to him one Evening to Edenburg with a good Guard along with them, and tell them, accord­ing [Page 253] to the projection had already devi­sed, that that same Night after they had Supped, and fed heir Horses, they should ride with them to Sterling, so as to be there early in the Morning, before any of the Lords who held the Parliament were out of their Beds, hoping by the Intelligence he had received, assuredly to surprize them before they could be advertised thereof: the Project they all readily agreed to, but they would not allow Grange to go along with them, for fear any disaster should befall him, who was the Life of them all, and so on they march, under the Leading of the Earl of Huntley, and some others, and were got to Sterling by Four next Morning, whereinto they entred by a little passage, being conducted by a Townsman, one George Bell; which entry of theirs, was immediately after their Night watches had retired to their Rest; they divided their Men into several Partys, and ap­pointed such as they thought meetest at every Lord's Lodgings; leaving one body un­der Capt. Hackerston at the Market-Cross, to see good Order kept, and to prevent any spoil to be committed; only they or­dered the Stables to be searched, and all the Horses in the Town to be carried away, which was punctually executed; but be­cause Captain Hackerstown did not come in due time with his Company, to attend at the Market-Cross according to appointment, a Company of unruly Servants broke open [Page 254] the Shops, and run up and down to take what spoil they could get; in the mean while, after they had taken out all the Lords from their Lodgings, and were lead­ing of them prisoners down the steep Cau­sey of Sterling, on foot, intending to take them Horses at the Nether-Gate, and to ride to Edenburg with their Captives; those within the Castle hearing the noise of the Townsmen crying out, because of the plundering of their Houses, and consi­dering what a disgrace it would be to them, if they did not shew themselves Men up­on such an occasion; they Sallied out bold­ly, and perceiving the disorder of the Ene­my, rescued all the Prisoners saving the Regent, whom one shot in the Back, at the Command (as was alleged) of the Lord Pachey; he died of the Wound some days after.

The next Regent was the Earl of Mar, the Discord still continued: His Govern­ment held not long, for being one day in­vited to Dinner by the Earl of Morton, he returned home and sickned, died soon after, not without vehement suspicion of having been poisoned at his Banquet.

Morton came in after him Regent, the Division between the Lords not yet made up, some Overtures of an Accommodation were made, but the Queen's Lords finding the Regent not sincere in all Respects, re­fused the Agreement, and were at last Besieged in Edinburgh Castle by an English [Page 255] Army, which they surrendred upon Arti­cles that were basely broke, and most of them executed: The King now growing up, began to hate the Regent, he being aware of it, [...]ed those about him to infuse in him a good Opinion of him, but in vain, and so a Council was appointed at Eden­burg, wherein it was agreed to Depose him, Morton thereupon retires to the House of Lochleven, within the Lough for his greater security; but while he was there his Head was continually a plodding how he might again become Master of the Court then at Sterling, which he accomplished in the dead of one night, in this manner. When he came to the Gates of the Castle, they were opened to him by the two Abbots, and a Faction they had drawn in there with them, though the Master of Mar and Earl of Argyle made what resistance they could; yet Morton prevailed, but handled the matter so discreetly and moderately as possible he could, that the alteration might not appear to be over sharp or vio­lent; but the Lord Aubonie, about that same time coming into Scotland from France, which Lord was afterward Created Duke of Lennox, and was Brothers Son to the late Earl of Lennox: He and James Steward of Oghiltrie, did in a short time gain the ascendency over the King's Affections, who was like a Tennis-Ball tossed from one Fa­vourite to another, all his days, they framed an Accusation against Morton, and [Page 256] got him committed to Edinburgh Castle, from whence in a short time he was brought to his Tryal and Condemned, for having an hand in the Lord Darnley, the King's Father's Murder; that he was privy to the same he did not deny at his Execution, and withall confessed, that he had a design to send the young King into England for his Safety; and so there's another Gover­nor gone, who was the fourth and last, and every one whereof died a violent Death: and now the King assumes the Go­vernment himself, and if he was unhappy during the time of the Regency, I think it will appear it was no better with him ever after, for he himself was as much governed now by his Favourites and Syco­phants, as the Kingdom had been by a Regent; and the first into whose Hands he fell, was Aubonie, now Created Duke of Lennox, and a Papist, and the aforesaid James Steward, who assumed to himself the Style and Title, and then the Earldom of Arran; These two led him by the Nose at their Pleasure, and carried all things with an high Hand, lording it over the rest of the Nobility, and aiming at their Estates, which made them begin to look about them, and concluding after serious Consultation, that from two such Coun­sellors no wholsome Advice could proceed for the Peace of the Country, and Esta­blishment of Religion, but rather, if they were suffered to go on still, both the one [Page 257] and the other would be endangered▪ they resolve to remove them▪ The King was at that time designing to go from Athol to Dumfermling to take his usual Divertise­ment of Hunting, where the Lords design­ed to encounter him with a supplication full of Complaints, against the Duke and Earl, with pressing Instances for the removing of them; and least their supplication should miscarry, they backt it with strong Forces which could not be resisted; The King had but a very few attendance at Dumfermling, for Lennox staid at Dalkeith, and Arran at Kinweel, and several of the Council were gone to hold the Assizes in divers Shires of the Country; Sir James Melvill was at Edenburgh, whither a Gentleman one morn­ing came to his Bed-side, and told him, that he had formerly done him several kindnesses, which till then he was never able to recompence, but that now he would make him an Instrument of saving the King his Master out of the Hands of those who were upon an enterprise to take and secure him; Melvill replied, he could hardly believe such a thing, but that he feared the Duke of Lennox might be in dan­ger, who was gone to Glasgow, because of the Hatred that was bore to him by the Nobility; The Gentleman subjoyned, they will lay hands first on the King's Person, and then the Duke, and Earl of Arran dare no more be seen, their insolency being looked upon as the Cause of almost all the [Page 258] Disorders of the Nation; and when he had so said, he desired the King might be acquainted with the matter, but to have his Name concealed from him, for he said, that design would be put in execution in ten days time, and as Sir James started up to put on his Cloaths, he slipt out at the door with a short farewell. Sir James up­on this Information rides with all the expe­dition imaginable to Dalkeith, where the Duke of Lennox then was, and laid the whole matter open before him, and ad­vised him withal to lose no time, but to Ride to the King to give him notice, that he might make timely provision for his own security; but the Duke chose rather to dispatch a Gentleman with all possible diligence to the King upon that Occasion, and wished Sir James to write to the Earl of Gaury about the same, for it seems the Gentleman that gave him the first Informa­tion of the Plot, had not named Gaury with the rest of the Lords to him, either out of forgetfulness, or else because he had been but lately won over to the Party by the Land of Drumwhafel, who had assured him that Lennox had resolved to kill him whereever he met him, and used this as a convincing argument to Embark the Earl in the same Cause; but however matters fell out, the Lords receded from their first Resolution of presenting their supplication as aforesaid, and would not tarry [...] the King came to Dumferling, but they surprised [Page 259] him at Huntingtown-House, which was the Earl of Gaury's, its uncertain whether it were not done with a design to imbark the Earl more deeply in their Bond, or that fearing least the design was discovered, they made the greater haste to execute the same, by seising the King there, which was afterward called the Road of Ruthven: The King is once more a Prisoner, and the Lords conduct him to Sterling-Castle, where he is kept for a time: In the mean while, the French King and Queen Elizabeth by their Ambassadors, make Instances for his Liberty, and Condole his Misfortune; but so hen-hearted was he, that he ordered their Ambassadors to declare to their res­pective Princes, that he was well satisfied with the Lords that were about him, that they were his own Subjects, &c. and when the Lords called a Council to resolve what course to take, he agreed with them to form an Act, declaring, That what they had done was good service to himself, the Kirk, and Commonwealth; though Mr. Carey, who I think was afterward Created Earl of Monmouth, whispered him in the Ear, and desired him to tell the plain Truth, which he engaged to conceal from all others whatsoever, and only acquaint the Queen his Mistress therewith, he told him his Heart was full fraught with Grief and Displeasure at his Misfortune.

[Page 260]The Lords having thus effected their purpose, as having now rid the Court of the Duke of Lennox, who fled into France. and the Earl of Arran, whom they com­mitted to the Custody of the Earl of Gaury, most of them withdrew from the Court to their respective homes, whereupon the King retaining a displeasure still in his Heart towards them, takes occasion to ap­point a Convention to be held at St. An­drews, whereunto by Missive Letters he invited some of the Nobility, but none of the Lords that had lately left him, de­signing thereby to get loose out of their Hands, and to retain about him such Lords as he had written for; and notwithstand­ing some about him endeavoured to divert him from the said Resolution, alledging the fresh Jealousie that would be Created in the absent Lords by such a procedure, and with all the Power they had to be reven­ged of the conceived affront, he rejected the advice; wherefore for the better ma­nagement of his design, it was thought ex­pedient, that he should go a few days to St. Andrews, before the Convention was to meet, that being once there, a Proclama­tion might be issued out to forbid any No­bleman whatsoever to come to the said Convention without express Orders from the King so to do, and to this end, it was contrived, that the Earl of March should give him an invitation to be at the place [Page 261] two or three days before the time, under pretence, that the preparations he had made of Wild Meats, and other things, for his Reception, would be spoiled, if he came not somewhat sooner than the ap­pointed day, (a silly excuse) but on he goes contrary to the advice of some about him, who were sensible of the inconveniencies that might attend it, especially since the Lords, whom he had summoned could not be there so soon, and when he arrived at St. Andrews, he took up his Lodgings at an old Inn, whose greatest security was the Yard Dykes, of little consideration; Mel­vil, who saw the vanity of such doings, goes to the Provost to see what force he could make for the Kings security, in case he were exposed to any danger, who answered very few, and those not to be relied upon, but returning to the King, and believing, that the Proclamation had been made, that no Man should come to the Convention unsent for; he found the Abbot of Dumfermling, and the Earl of Marshal there; the Abbot, who was of the contrary Faction, yet did by his Wit and Dissembling Practices, so manage the King, that the Proclamation was not on­ly stopped, but Missive Letters sent to the rest of the Nobility to come, but under the Restriction that each Nobleman should come attended with no more than two Persons; Some of his Adherents, who [Page 262] foresaw this would unravel the whole de­sign, reminded him of the danger, and advised him to retire into the Castle, which they could not persuade him to do till after Supper: Next day, all the Lords, as well written as unwritten for, came to St. Andrews, the latter strongly armed, and the others not: The Abbot, who was with the King in the Castle, pretending all manner of Zeal for his Service, advi­sed him to let none of the Lords come within the Castle accompanied with any more than twelve Persons, which (tho' he were now in a place of security, if well managed) had like to have brought him again into a State of Captivity; for the next morning the Castle was full of Men, and the contrary Party being well Armed, had already possest themselves of the Stair-Head and Galleries, resolving a second time to be Masters of the King and all his Followers; but the Earl of March, his Gentlemen, with the Provosts Men, and some others, got thither with such dili­gence, that the design was rendered Abor­tive for that time, so that next day the King for fear of a further surprise, gave them fair Words, promising all alike there of his Favour and Protection, which for the time seemed to give Contentment to all the parties.

[Page 263]In the mean while the Earl of Arran got the Favour to be confined in his own House at Kinneall, from whence he sends to Con­gratulate his Majesty's safe deliverance, begging leave to come to Court to kiss the King's Hand, which for the time was deni­nied, but he still persisting in his Sollicita­tion, by the help of some Friends, and promising to make no manner of stay, but to withdraw again to his Habitation; the King, whose Affections were still towards him, and Born it seems to be ruled by others, tho' he could not chuse but know he was obnoxious to the whole Kingdom, and had been a principal Cause of the King's former confinement, grants him leave; the Earl had no sooner access, no more thought of his Promise, but staid not only at Court, but in a short time altered all the ways of procedure, with a design to draw the management of all publick Affairs to himself, as before; this was a great mortification to many about the King, and Colonel Steward resented it highly, saying, That if his Majesty suffered that Villain to remain at Court, he would yet again undo all; but at last they were reconciled and became great Friends, and from henceforward the Earl managed the King, Council, and all other Affairs of the Kingdom, as despoti­cally, as if he had been Grand Signior, or Mayor of the Palace in France, the King was easily induced by him to spend most of his time a Hunting, and to be content [Page 264] with whatever Relation he gave him of the Publick Affairs; and when he had gained this point, he bent his whole force for to ruin the Ruthwen Road Lords, notwithstand­ing the Publick Faith given them for their Indemnity; Queen Elizabeth about this time sent to King James a sharp Letter concerning his mismanagement of his Af­fairs, and promised to send Sir Francis Walsingham into Scotland, by whom, she said, she intended to deal with him as an Affectionate Sister, and one from whom he might see he should receive Honour and Contentment, with more safety to himself and Kingdom, than by following the per­nicious Councils of those crafty dissembling Advisers about him; but there was nothing could stop the career of this mighty Fa­vourite Arran, who obtains the Govern­ment of Sterling-Castle to the rest, and ba­nished several Noblemen, as the Earls of Mar, Angus, &c. and by his insolent be­haviour, drove the Noble Earl of Gawry, and almost all other honest Men from Court at length Walsingham arrived, who after he had been with the King, and pursued his Instructions, prepared to return home; Arran would fain have entred into a fami­liar Conference with him, but Sir Francis disdained to speak with him; the other en­raged with the conceived affront, and find­ing no other way of Revenge, but what must bring great dishonour upon the King, (a poor tool to suffer it) gave Orders [Page 265] that the Captains of Berwick, and several worthy Gentlemen who came to convoy Secretary Walsingham, should not be suffer­ed to enter into the King's Presence-Cham­ber; and not content herein, when the King had ordered a rich Diamond, to the value of 700 Crowns to be given to the Secretary; instead thereof, the Earl puts a scornful Present upon him, of a Ring with a Chrystal stone sett therein only; a Pre­sumption undoubtedly, that Harry 8. would have punisheed with the loss of his Head, had the Earl been his Subject: but this way of procedure was so far from exciting the King to vindicate his own Honour, which was abominably blemish'd hereby, that when he was determined to go to Eden­burg to call a Convention of the Estates, more Honours must be put upon the Earl; for to that of the Government of Sterling-Castle, already in his Hands, was added that of Edenburg Castle, the two most im­portant Fortresses in the Kingdom; and least a Military Power was not yet suffici­ent both for his Greatness and Security, he gets himself Declared Lord Chancellor, and so Head of the Civil Power in the Kingdom; and now he Triumphs, making the whole Subjects tremble under him, and by daily seeking out, and inventing new crimes against others, to get their Lands and Possessions, several of the Nobility he banished, but more especially, shot direct­ly at the Earl of Gawrey's Life and Estate; [Page 266] but the Earl could not be content to Do­mineer as he pleased, over the King's Na­tural Subjects, but he must mock and de­ride with the ignorant multitude, the Da­nish Ambassadors also, and use them with all the despight imaginable; for it seems, they knowing his former meanness in Swede­land, made no great Court to him, which raised his Fury; this was quickly percei­ved by some about the King, whom the Earls Practices and Insolence had disobli­ged, and who failed not to let the King know it; and for all the Earls Ascendency made him somewhat to decline in Favour, which another accident gave a helping hand to, for Sir Francis Russell, upon some disorders that fell out upon the Borders, happening to be slain of the English side; Mr. Woton the English Ambassador, who stood in competition with the Earl for the King's Favour, took occasion to lay the blame upon him, alledging that the Laird of Fernihast, who was Warden of the Scots Borders, had Married the Earl of Arran's Brothers Daughter, and that the said Earl had caused the slaughter to be committed, that the Borders might break loose: Wotton was seconded by others in this complaint so effectually, that the Earl was commit­ted prisoner to the Castle of St. Andrews, where having remained for a few days, he got by the intercession of the Master of Gray, whom he won with fair promises to be his Friend, (It's strange he should find any, [Page 267] who had disobliged every Body) leave to retire to his own House; and here the King played a Noble prank, but whether he used it as Lex talionis for the sham-Ring Arran had put upon Walsingham as afore­said, and which he durst not otherwise pu­nish, I am not certain: but it looks like his little tricks, which notwithstanding he dignified with the name of Kingcraft; for when the Earl was upon his journey home­ward, he sends to him with all possible di­ligence, for to lend him a great Gold Chain, which he knew he had got from Sir James Belfour, which weighed 57 Crowns, to be given to the Danish Ambassadors, which if the Earl had refused to do, he would (it's likely) have lost the King; and in deli­vering of it he lost his Chain.

Arran being thus retired, makes several attempts to recover his former station; and the King, it was observed, retained a Fa­vour for him, and would have been con­tent to have Himself and Kingdom still Governed by him, he was once again admit­ted to Court, but others had stepped in, and the King had not power to remove them; so that the Earl after long retire­ment and discontent, was surprized at last by James Douglass at Parkhead, and slain by him, in revenge of the death of the Earl of Morton his Unkle; and but little care taken to punish the same, many think­ing it indeed strange, that he should be permitted so long to live, who had carri­ed [Page 268] it so arrogantly and insolently towards all Men, in the time of his Ascendency at Court, but several other Accidents inter­vened before the Earls Exit. The next Man that had the chief Credit and Man­agement of Affairs, was Mr. Wotton the Eng­lish Ambassador, but tho' the King begun now to be Governed by a Favourite, and a Forreiner under this Character, yet it did not end here, as you shall hear by and by when the Scene is transplanted into England, Wotton knew as well as any Man alive, how to humour him in his plea­sures, and such familiar access had he at all times to his Person, that he attempted to have brought in the banished Lords, (whose Interest he had espoused, not without the direction, to be sure, of the English Court) secretly into his presence in the Parish of Sterling, at such a time as they should have so many Friends at Court, that he must have remained once more at their Devo­tion; but all things did not so concur, as to put this Enterprize in practice; so it was laid aside, and Mr. Wotton essayed a Second, but more desperate attempt, which was to Kidnap Jemmy out of the foresaid Park into England, see Sir James Melvill; but Sir Robert Melvill coming to a timeous Knowledge hereof, took measures to pre­vent it, which made the English Ambassa­dor withdraw home, without bidding of them once a good night; the Lords for all this enter the Borders, being assisted by the Lords Hamilton, Maxwel, Hume, and [Page 269] several others, and advance to the number of Three thousand Men towards Sterling, entring the Town without any opposition, where they were no sooner arrived, but there appear'd two Factions with the King in the Castle, the one favouring the Lords, whose part the King took, as if he had re­ally desired the Lords should have come thi­ther in this manner to tear his Minions from his Heart; and so once more the King is in their Power, which they exerci­sed with great moderation, only a few were committed for the present, to the custody of some Noblemen, and so a Par­liament was called, as the best expedient to heal all their breaches.

Things continued in some sort of Con­cord for a little while, and the Convicting and Beheading of the Queen his Mother, in England, seemed to possess all their Minds with amazement at the Fact, for the pre­sent, tho' I do not find, he did at all re­sent it; but this was no sooner over, but there appears a new Faction at Court, headed by the Earl of Huntley, whose aim was at the removing of the Master of Gray, and Maitland the Chancellor, with their Adherents, but finding it was not so easily to be effected, Huntley, Bothwell and others contrived to seize the King's Person, and to keep him in their custody; but this pro­ving Abortive, the noise of the Spanish In­vasion, which was dreaded in Scotland, as well as in England, seemed to lay all Animo­s [...]t [...]es aside for the present; but this blow­ing [Page 270] over, the King's Thoughts seemed to be taken all up about Marrying, the Sister of the King of Denmark was the Lady pro­posed, and Queen Elizabeth consulted with thereupon, who disswaded him therefrom, and said she had Interest with the King and Princess of Navarr, and that she would im­ploy the same for effectuating of a Marri­age between him and the said Princess, but the King was bent upon the former, and because he found the Chancellor and some others oppose it, he could not, or would not be seen openly to controul them, but dealt secretly with some of the Deacons of the Craftsmen of Edenburg, to form a Mu­tiny against the Chancellor and some of the Council, threat'ning to kill them; in case the Marriage with the Daughter of Den­mark were hindred, or any longer delayed; whereupon the Earl of Marshal was sent thither with Power to Treat about the said Marriage, but withal, in so stinted and limited a degree, contrived by the Craft of the Chancellor, and his Faction, that he was necessitated to send the Lord Dinguall back from thence, to desire either liberty to return hence, or to have suffici­ent Power to conclude the Treaty; when he came, he hapned to find the King at Aberdeen without the Chancellor, &c, so that what he could not do while he was present, he was able to effect, with much ado in his absence; surely never was any King so ridden as he, and the Messenger [Page 271] returns with full power, which brought the Treaty quickly to a Conclusion, and so the Queen with a goodly Train was sent away towards Scotland; but stay a little, she did not so soon arrive as you may think for, you'll be apt to enquire the reason of it, pray take it along with you; and think it not a digression: It seems the Admiral of Denmark, who had the Charge to Con­voy this Royal Bride, happening to strike one of the Bailiffs of Copenhagen, whose Wife was a Witch, she consulting with her Associates in their Black Art, concluded, in order to be revenged on the Admiral, to raise a terrible Storm, which lasted for several Days, and drove their Ships with great danger and violence upon the Coast of Norway, where they were forced to stay, because of the continuance of the said Tem­pest for a long time; and a Scotch Gentle­woman, whose name was Jane Kennedy, and sent before in a Vessel to meet the Queen, by the King's Orders, was drowned about the same time in a Storm on the Scotch Coast, raised by two Scotch Witches, who confest the Fact, as Sir J. Melvill says: it's like there is a Sympathy in Witchcraft, as well as in some other things; and now you shall hear of the most valiant Act that e'r King James was guilty of; for being very im­patient and sorrowful that the Queen was so long a coming, this Knight Errant re­solves to commit himself to the raging Seas, to encounter Shipwrack, Storms, Witch­craft, [Page 272] and what not, so he might set free, and enjoy his beloved Lady: and who should wind himself into his Favour, and become his errant [...]Companion in this Voyage, but the Chancellor, the only Man of all others who most opposed the Match, and whom he himself a little before would have got murdered because of that, and none but such as the Chancellor pleased, must be made privy to this Expedition; and that the Adventure might appear to be brave at all points it must be underta­ken the beginning of Winter; which was ordinarily the most perilous season of the year; Storms they met with throughout, and the last day of the Voyage was more terrible than all the rest; but at length the Witch was laid, and they arrived safely in Norway, where the Marriage was Consum­mated; but the Kingdom of Scotland might have been spirited up into the Second Re­gion of the Air, or laid with a spell into the bottom of the deep for that Winter; for no Arguments could perswade him to return before next Spring, from Norway he went by Land to the Danish Court, where, during his abode, he was constant­ly infested with the janglings of his Cour­tiers, who were divided into two Factions, headed by the Earl of Marshall, and the Chancellor, who strove for Precedency, but the Chancellor prevailed here, as he did upon the King's return hence, carrying all before him, appointing who should, and [Page 273] who should not come to Court; and in short, so handled the King and all his Af­fairs, that his Majesty quite forgot upon his return, the promise he had made in the High Kirk of Edenburg, that he would Be­come a new Man, and take the Government, into his own hands; and now comes an­other piece of Witch Pageantry that me­naced his Majesty's Life; the story was as followeth; There were some Women taken up in Louthian, which they called Witches, and among others one Amy Simp­son, who it was said, charged the Earl of Bothwell, as being concerned in some vile Practices to bewitch the King, and that she in company with nine more of their Gang, met one night at a place called Preston-Pans, where the Devil being present, and standing in the midst of them, a Body of Wax was formed by the said Amy Simpson, wrapped up in a Linnen Cloth, which she delivered into the hands of of his Devil­ship, who after he had pronounced his Ver­dict, delivered the same back again to the said Amy Simpson, she to her next Neigh­bour, and so to every one round, saying, This is King James the Sixth, ordered to be consumed at the instance of a Noble­man, Francis Earl of Bothwell; some time after they met again by Night, in the Church of North Berwick, where the De­vil in a Black Gown, with a Black Hat upon his Head, came and Preach'd to a great company of them out of the Pulpit▪ [Page 274] the scope of his Discourse tended to wh [...] mischief they had done, how many they had got to their Opinion since the last meeting, what success the melting of the Picture had, and so forth; and because an old silly poor Plow-man among them, whose Name was Gray Meile, happen'd to say, that nothing ailed the King, God be Thank­ed, the Devil gave him a great blow, and when they all reasoned, and marvelled, that their Practices had no better effect upon him; the Devil answered in French, Il est un homme de Dieu. Certainly he is a Man of God. When he had finished his Admoni­tions he came down out of the Pulpit, and as a further instance of his Authority, and good Manners, he caused all the company to come and kiss his Arse, which they said was cold as Ice, his Body hard like Iron, his Face very terrible to behold, his Nose like an Eagle's Beak, with great burning Eyes, his Hands and Legs were hairy, ha­ving Claws upon both Hands and Feet like a Griffin, and spoke with a low Voice.

Some of these Haggs further deposed, that there was one Richard Graham who had a Familiar Spirit, who could both do and tell many things, chiefly against the Earl of Bothwell, whereupon the said Graham was apprehended, brought to Edenburg and examined before the King; the fellow own­ed he had a Familiar Spirit, but said he was no Witch, and did not frequent their com­pany, but when it was answered that Amy [Page 275] Simpson had declared, that he had caused the Earl of Bothwell to address himself to her, he granted that to be true, and far­ther confess'd, that the Earl coming to the knowledge of him by the means of Elfe Machallown, and Barbary Naper, two Eden­burg Women, he sent for him, and requi­red his assistance to make the King love him, and to the effect, gave him some Herb or Drug, with which he willed him at some convenient time to touch the King's Face, which practise not meeting with the desi­red effect, the Earl would have engaged the said Graham ▪ by his Art, to destroy the King, bu- that he alledged he could not do that himself, but recommeded it to the foresaid Amy Simpson, who was a notable Witch, and could gratify his Desire there­in: Hereupon the Earl was committed to Edenburg-Castle; from whence, after he had sollicited in vain to come to his Trial, al­ledging that the Devil was a Lyer from the beginning, and ought not to be credited, nor yet the Witches who were his Sworn Servants; he at length makes his escape over the Castle-Wall, and retired to Cath­ness, where being strengthned by other Male-contents, who were desirous to fish in troubled Waters, he attempts to sur­prize the King, and to kill the Chancellor his inveterate Enemy, and to that end en­ters the King's Palace one Night late about Supper time, by the passage of an old Sta­ble, not without secret intelligence of some [Page 276] about the King's Person; assoon as they had got within the close of the Palace, they cried Justice, Justice, a Bothwell, a Bothwell, and had infallibly been Masters of the whole, had it not been that James Douglass, who was one of them, after he had taken the Keys from the Porters, entred into the Pa­stery Lodge to relieve some of his Servants, who were detained there, upon suspicion of having an hand in the slaughter of his Father, the old Laird of Spot, where the Porters made some resistance, which oc­casioned a noise and tumult sooner than the Enterprizers had designed: the King, Chan­cellor, and others were horribly allarmed at this, and knew not what to do; Both­well with Mr. John Colvill and others, made directly to the Queen's Chamber door, where they supposed the King to be, but the Door was valiantly defended by Harry Lins [...]y Of Kilfans, Master of the Queens Houshold; but the Earl prevailing at last, broke open the Doors with Hammers, and Colvill brought Fire to burn it; the King in the mean time was conveyed to the Tower above the said Chamber; the Chan­cellor who was in his Hall at Supper, when he heard the first noise, sled unto his Cham­ber and made the door fast upon him, shut­ting out Sir Robert Melvill who supped along with him, and who was forced to retire to another empty House, where he continu­ed all the while out of harms way, and the Chancellor with his Servants, that con­tinually [Page 277] shot out of the Windows, made such a resistance, as that the Assailants were forced to retire; Melvill says, that when they first entred into the Palace, he was at Supper with the Duke of Lennox, who immediately took his Sword in hand, and would have rushed upon the Enemy, but having no company, and finding the place already full of the Enterprizers, they were forced to fortify their Doors and Stairs, with Tables, Forms and Stools, and be spectators of all that hurly-bur­ly for the space of an Hour together, hearing and beholding by Torch-light out of the Duke's Gallery, their reeling and rumbling with Halberts, clashing their Culverins, and Pistols, the blows of their Malls and Hammers, and crying continu­ally for Justice; now there was a passage between the Chancellor's Chamber and the Duke of Lennox's, by a pair of Stairs, by which the Chancellor came up and de­sired admittance in to the Duke; the Duke, by Sir James Melvill's advice, told the Chan­cellor, that for himself he was welcome to enter in, but desir'd he would cause his Men to stay at the nether Door, and resist as long as they could; this the Chancellor took in ill part, and so retired again to his own Chamber, but in the mean time, while all these things were in agitation, word was brought to Sir Andrew Melvill, Master of the King's Houshold, of the enterprize and danger the King, and Chancellor was [Page 276] [...] [Page 277] [...] [Page 278] in, without speedy relief, who procuring all the succor that the time would permit, from the Cannon Gate, and knowing there was a secret passage through the Abby into the Palace, entred with his Men by the same in Armour; whereof when the Earl of Bothwell and his followers had notice, they stole silently through the Galleries, unto that part where they first entred the Palace; and chancing in their retreat to meet with John Shaw the King's Master-Stabler, they slew him and his Brother, be­ing in a rage, that their enterprize had met with such bad success; however, some of them were taken by Sir Andrew, and ex­ecuted the day following.

The King almost dead with fear, would stay no longer at Dalkeith, but in all haste gets to Edinburgh, where continual Plots were laid to surprize him, and such enmi­ty arose among the Courtiers, and more especially among the Duke of Lennox and the Chancellor, that it must have a King of other guess courage than King James for to reconcile and compose them; the Chan­cellor one while being forced to retire, but brought in again and ruled the roast afresh, but it was not long before private Animo­sities engendring publick Calamities, had like to have brought the King into greater danger than any wherewith he had been hitherto menaced, for the Earl of Huntley was at variance with the Earl of Murray, [Page 279] the Earls of Ca [...]hu [...]st and Sunderland, to­gether by the Ears, and the Lords Hamilton and Angus at great strife; which discord was chiefly occasioned, because most of them had obtained Commissions with large Pri­viledges over other Lands as well as over their own; and this at last terminated in an open hostility: when the Council was advertised hereof, they set a day, wherein first the Earls of Murray and Huntley should appear, there being a Gentleman of the Name of Gourdon shot by the Earl of Murray, out of the House of Farnue, both parties came strongly attended, and for fear of mischief, were ordered to keep their Lodg­ings lest any tumult should arise; the Chan­cellor who now managed all Affairs, advi­sed the King to require Security from both the Earls for their good behaviour for the future, to keep them both asunder, by de­taining the one at Court for a time, and sending the other home; but Sir James Melvill was for a present Agreement be­tween both Parties, and judged the King might easily effect it; but the Chancellor taunted so at Sir James for his advice, that he was forced to give way, and so Hunt­ley according to the Chancellor's project, was sent home, who now wanting his Com­petitor, so triumphed, and took so many advantages over the Earl of Murray's Land, as gave him just occasion of complaint, but meeting with no redress to his grievance, [Page 280] he retired from Court, and grew so dis­contented, that he fell in with the designs of the Earl of Bothwell, who was still a hatching of mischief.

Huntley came no sooner to know that his Adversary was an Outlaw with the Earl of Bothwell, but he returned again to Court, with a design to gain some further advan­tage over him; but the Lord Ochiltrie, with the King's consent, endeavoured to accom­modate Matters between them, and make them Friends; and so Murray was brought to a place called Dunibirsil, as being near at hand, for the better effectuating of an agreement; Huntley hearing of his arrival applys himself to the King for a Commissi­on to pursue the Earl of Bothwell, and all his Adherents with Fire and Sword, which the King grants him; and being armed with this Power, the first thing he does, was to Murder the Earl of Murrey his Adversary, at the foresaid place, which it seems was his own House; this horrid Fact was gene­rally regretted, and the granting of such a Commission, was justly interpreted to be a breach of Faith in the King, and himself to be charged with being Author of the said Murder; but none resented it so high­ly as the Lord Ochiltrie, who took such de­spight that his Friend should be slain, du­ring a time of Treaty, that he solemnly Declared he took part with the Earl of Bothwell, and divers others in revenge of [Page 281] his Quarrel, encouraging the said Earl to assassinate the King within his Palace of Falkland, having several at Court, familiar enough with the King, who guided him at pleasure, to favour the said Conspiracy; but things could not be carried with that Secrecy, but that some about him got in­telligence of the Design, and advised him for his own safety to pass over to Coupar, and with all expedition to Assemble the Barons of Fife for his own safety; but such as had contrived his Ruin, perswaded him to stay, alledging that the Earl of Lou­thian would not come from Louthian till such a day, tho? he kept to his time, and came to Falkland two days sooner, according to appointment; and this they did with a de­sign to have surprized the King before he could either have entred within the Tower of Falkland, or making any tolerable Pro­vision for his own Defence, and because they knew Sir James Melvill and his Brother Sir Robert, might be some obstruction to the Design, they advised the King to send them home to their Houses the very same night, that they uuderstood the Earl of Bothwell purposed to be there; but before the Bro­thers departed, they advised the King to ride quietly to Bambrigh, that from thence he might when he pleased take Boat and go over to Angus, where he would have leisure to Assemble Forces out of Perth and Dundee with the adjacent Countrys, but [Page 282] this advice was also rejected; Sir Rober [...] upon the Road homewards had notice gi­ven given him by one of Bothwell's gang, that he was already got as far as Fife, and would be in Falkland about Supper time, who forthwith dispatched his Gen­tleman, whose Name was Robert Aufleck to acquaint his Majesty therewith, and to de­sire him to go into the Tower with all ex­pedition; but they called him Fool, and laughed him to scorn for his pains, and so he left them in great discontent, but upon his return he met Bothwell and his follow­ers upon the height of Lammonds, it be­ing by this time dark night, and so struck in with them, as if he had been one of the gang, and used great diligence to get first to the King, shutting the Court Gate after him; upon his entrance he ur­ged the King to get into the Tower with utmost expedition, which at length he did, and so for this time escaped also; for tho Bothwell came well provided of all things for forcing the Palace, where he thought to surprize the King, and tho' it was al­ledged some shot Paper only out of the Culverins in the Tower upon Bothwell's Men, yet others shot Bullets, which together with the fear he was in lest the Country might come, caused him to retire and flee, none pursuing them.

The Assassination failing, this terminated in open Rebellion. Bothwell associating [Page 283] himself with the Popish Lords, the more to strengthen his Party, who for a time pre­vailed, but at last were necessitated to go beyond Sea, and Bothwell several years af­ter died at Naples; but no sooner was one fear over, but comes on another, but of a different nature: the King, (you have heard before) plaid the Knight-Errant, rather than be without a Wife, who was Anne, Sister to the King of Denmark, a Lady that bears a fair Character in the Annals of Time, tho' I find one say of her, that she was a Person he heard little of saving that Character, which Salust gives Sempronia, that she could Saltare elegantius quam necesse est probae. See had about two years before bore him a Son, Prince Henry, to whom the King assigned the Earl of Marr Go­vernor; now the Queen, 'tis not known upon what design, nor well by whose agen­cy and Promotion, laid a project in the King's absence, to surprize the Prince and take him out of the Earl's hands; but the King's suddain arrival from Faulkland to Edenburg, and taking the Queen away along with him to Sterlin, rendred the Project abortive; Hower it were, the very proje­ction put King James into no small Bo­dily fear, as appears by the following Letter he writ to the Earl of Marr up­on that occasion, which is recited by Sanderson in his Life of King James.

This Court juggle and jealousie was followed by a more dangerous one from the Presbytery, who met at Edinburg to treat of their Ecclesiastical Affairs, and some o­ther matters that came under their Consi­deration; but the Kings Sentiments and theirs were as remote as East and West, which produced such Heats and Factions, that the King dissolves the Convention, they stand stifly to it, and meet for all that, several Lords espouse their Cause; at last the King truckles, and was willing to come to an Accommodation; but to shew the Image of Authority first, asked, Who they were that durst Convene against his Pro­clamation? but his Mouth was quickly [Page 285] stopped by the Lord Linsay's reply, saying, That they durst do more than so, and would not endure Destruction of Religion, and by the Nobles crying out, Arm; others, Bring forth Haman, and some the Sword of the Lord and of Gideon; it made the King and his Council flee from Edenburg to Lin­lithgo, but futy by degrees began to cool, and some Concessions of all sides intro­duced a little Tranquillity in the State, and some Remissions of the Kings Fears; but the Revolution of about two years, ushered in that memorable Conspiracy of the Earl of Gowry, which because not fo­reign from the scope of the present Trea­tise, and by reason of the Barbarity and Tragical circumstances thereof, as well as it has been the subject of the discourse of many, but hardly a Man to be met with that can give the true state of it, I shall endeavour to oblige the Reader with a di­stinct and impartial Narrative of the same, even according to what the Court Party and King's Favourites have related concern­ing it.

Sanderson, in his Life and Death of King James, says, the Surname of the Earls of Gowry was Ruthven, and a Family of small account till Anno 1568. when the chief of them, among other Confederates, endea­voured to Imprison Mary Queen of Scots; that his Son William was Created Earl of Gowry in King James's Minority, and two years after fell into actual Rebellion at [Page 286] Dundee, for which he was Beheaded at Sterlin in 1584. but Sir James Melvill, who had as good an opportunity to know this Affair as any man, says, The Earl of Gow­ry was related to the King in high Favour, and by the villanous Contrivance of a Court Faction, cut off for little or no fault, and seems to censure his hard Fate, and not to excuse the King himself in his proceed­ings against him. The Earl's Eldest Son, named John, was not long after restored in Blood, and had leave to Travel; and Sanderson said, he had a Manuscript, con­taining, that the Earl at Padua, caused an Hand and Sword, aiming at a Crown, to be used for his Device; and that the Earl of Argyle acquainted King James, that he found a Prophesie at an House in Orleans in France, where the Earl of Gowry had had Lodgings, that he should with too much love, fall into Melancholly, have great Power and Rule, and Die by the Sword: After his return, that he carried himself very Haughtily, and being too big for Court observance, retired to his Family, leaving his Brother Alexander, who was made Gentleman of the King's Bed-Cham­ber, to play the Courtier, and Cloak the Design; and thus, according to Sanderson's Relation was the Conspiracy formed; The Earl sent his Brother Alexander from St. Johnstown, where he lived, to the King at Faulkland, to entice him to come thither with as much Privacy as could be, and [Page 287] commands one of his Servants, Andrew Henderson by Name, to go with his Bro­ther and one Andrew Ruthwen to the Court, which they in the morning did, being the 5th of August 1600. and as the King was putting his Foot into the Stirrup to go a Hunting, Alexander informed him, that he had apprehended one lately come from be­yond Seas with much Gold about him, and several suspicious Letters to some Popish Lords, advising his Majesty to receive the Money and the Letters, and to examine the Person, who was in safe Custody at his Brother the Earl's House, but ten miles of, and this with as much speed and privacy as could be; to which the King assents, and that he would go at Noon, while his At­tendants were at Dinner; Alexander here­upon dispatched Henderson to give the Earl notice that the King would be there about Noon, and that the Business took so well with him, that he had clipt him about the Neck, that he had but a slender Retinue, as the Duke of Lennox, Sir Thomas Erskin, and about a Dozen more: Well said the Earl, Get on your Plate Sleeves, for I must take an Highland Robber: The King stay­ing at his sport of Hunting somewhat lon­ger than was expected, the Earl had half Dined, when Andrew Ruthen aforesaid came in haste, and acquainted him, the King was hard by, and presently after came in Alexander and Bloire, who withdrew, to consult, and sent Henderson for the Earls [Page 288] Gauntlet and Steel Bonnet; the King quick­ly followed, and was received by the Earl, who conducted him into Dinner. In the mean time, Alexander bids Henderson fetch the Keys of the Chambers from one Rynd, and presently after one Cr [...]uston calls Hen­derson to come to the Earl, who commanded him to do whatever his Brother Alexander should bid him, which was to be locked up in the round Chamber, and to stay there silently till his return: When the Dinner was near over, and the King eating some Fruit, and the Lords and other Attendants gone to eat, Alexander begs of him to make use of that opportunity, and withdraw to dispatch the Business, and up he leads him through four or five Rooms, locking every Door as he passed behind him, until they came to the round Chamber, where Hen­derson stood armed: They were no sooner entred, but Alexander pulls out Henderson's Dagger, held it to the King's Breast, and said with a stern Countenance, Now, Sir, you must know I had a Father, whose Blood calls for Revenge, and you must Die, (surely if this had been true, the very fright must have killed King James) but to proceed, the King seeing his danger, deals gently with his fury, excuses himself from the guilt of his Death, by his then Infancy, advising him not to lay violent hands on the Sacred Person of his Sovereign, plead­ing the Laws of God and Man, and his Merits in Restoring his Brother to his [Page 289] Estate and Honours, by Breeding his Sister the nearest in the Queen's Affections, and by his Reception of himself, to be of his Bed-Chamber, and withall, promising Par­don for all that was past; which so wrought upon Alexander for the present, that he left the King in Henderson's Custody, untill he returned back from his Brother, having first taken an Oath of the King not to stir nor cry out, and so locks them both in; Alexander being gone, Henderson in the mean time relented, and swore he would not kill him; but presently Alexander returns with a String in his Hand, and said, Sir, There is no Remedy, By God you must Die, and so strives to Bind him; Nay, says the King, I was Born free, and will not be Bound, and so struggling together, Alexander got the King's Head under his Arm, and clapped his Hand upon his Mouth, which the King bit by the Thumb, and dragging him to the Window, bad Henderson open it; where the King cryed out to the back Court, Treason, where the Duke of Lennox, Earl of Mar, and others, were in pursuit of him, it having been given out that he was gone the back way into the Park.

As soon as they knew it was the King, they ran to the Chamber where he Dined, but could find no entrance: In the mean time, John Ramsey, Groom of the Bed-Chamber, and Sir Thomas Erskin, endea­voured to get up by the Turn-Pike back­stairs, being directed thither by a Boy of [Page 290] the House, who saw Alexander ascend that way, and forcing one Door open, found them panting, Ramsey immediately draws his Fauchion, and run Alexander in the Belly, (being bid to strike low, for the King found him armed with a Coat of Mail) and so with the assistance of Sir Thomas Erskin, Doctor Herres, and one Wilson, quickly dispatched him, whilst Henderson slipt out of the way; but the danger was not yet over, for perceiving by the noise of unlocking the Doors, that the Earl himself was coming to assault them, they advised the King to withdraw into the Lobby, but first cast the King's Coat over the Dead Body; which was no sooner done, but the Earl enters by his double Keys, attended with seven of his Servants, the foreway, and his Case of Rapiers, and his usual Arms ready drawn, to whom Erskin, to divert him from his purpose) earnestly said, What do you mean, my Lord, the King is killed, and points to his Bro­thers covered Body bleeding on the Floor; at which Gowry stoops, dropping the points of his Weapons, when suddenly Herres as­saulted him with his Sword, and being se­conded by Ramsey, struck him to the Heart, yet not so readily, but that the Earl thrust him into the Thigh, assisted by Cranston, who wounded Erskin and Herres in the Hand, and they him through the Body, and lived only long enough to be hanged and quartered: Then came in the Lords and [Page 291] the rest of the Company, and after having surveyed the Earl's Body, they found it did not Bleed, till a Parchment was taken out of his Bosom, with Characters in it, and these Letters, which put together, made Tetragrammaton, having been told, as the Story went, his Blood should not be spilt as long as he had that spell: This is the substance of the Conspiracy.

I will not descant upon the many Absur­dities and incoherent Circumstances couched under this Relation, but will leave it to the Readers Censure, and tell you only that most Authors that have mentioned it, seem to turn the Tables to lay the Assassination at the King's door, and one I find, (Sir J. H.) saying, he Blasphemed God for his pretend­ed Deliverance once a year all his life after; but Mr. Wilson is a little more modest, who expresses himself hereupon to this purpose: This year, August 5. (being the first of the King's Reign in England) had a new Title given to it, the King's Delivery in the North must resound here, whether the Gowries at­tempted upon the King's Person, or the King upon theirs is variously reported; It may be he retained something of his Predecessor, and great Parent, Henry VII. that made Religion give way to Policy, oftentimes Cursing and Thun­dring out the Churches Fulminations against his own Ministers, that they might be received with the more intimate Familiarity with his Foreign Enemies for the better discovery of their Designs; I will not say the Celebration [Page 292] of this Holy-Day had so much Profaneness, for Fame may be a Slanderer, but where there is a strength of Policy, there is always a power of wordly Wisdom that manages and sways it.

James Stuart I. began his Reign over Great-Britain, Mar. 24. 1602.Now we are to transplant the Scene into the Southern part of the British Isle, for our bright Occidental Star, Queen Eli­zabeth, of famous Memory, having for the space of above forty four years, shined in our British Horizon, and darted out the Rays of her Renown to the remotest parts of the habitable Globe, and now exchanged an Earthly for an Heavenly Diadem, King James succeeded her in all her Dominions; who being both a Protestant and a Pacifick King, diverted the Fears of the English, and made some Allay of Grief in their Hearts, for the lost of their Nursing Mo­ther and Sovereign Lady, who, though she were glorious and happy, almost in all her Affairs, during the course of her long Reign, yet she may be truly said to have been much more celebrated after her Death; for the Vices of others, and Male-Administration of this, and the succeeding Reigns, erected a more lasting Monument of Renown, and contributed a more indelible lustre to her Fame, than any of the worthiest Atcheive­ments of her Life, so that it may be as truly said of her, as it was of old, by Suetonius, concerning that brave Roman, Germanicus, Auxit gloriam desideriumque de­functae [Page 293] insequentium temp [...]rum atrocitas. Here for a time we are to expect nothing but Shows, Pageants, Creations of Honours, (of which King James was never no niggard) and all manner of Jollity; but the advance­ment of some so far disgusted others, who thought themselves neglected, that it pro­duced him a Conspiracy, as the Authors of that Age know not what to make off; it was apparent the muddy Waters were stir­red, but it was with such a mixture, that little could be visible in it; For Sir Wal­ter Rawleigh, the Lords Cobham and Grey, were Protestants, Markham, Baynam, and the two Priests, were Popish: the Charge was, that they had endeavoured all in Con­junction to introduce Popery, to seize the King and Prince, and to set the Crown up-the Head of the Lady Arabella Steward, younger Brother to Henry Lord Darnley, both Sons to Matthew Earl of Lennox, by his Wife Margaret, Daughter by the Earl of Angus to Margaret the Mother of James V. and Daughter of Henry VII. But this was a sorry foundation to go upon, and so the superstructure thus huddled to­gether, could not last long, wherefore the execution of some, and Imprisonment of the rest, quickly dissipated this Cloud, and all was Serene again, and Halcion days: But here give me leave to say somewhat, as well in Vindication of the Memory of that true Englishman, and Noble Gentle­man, Sir Walter Rawleigh, who was Con­demned [Page 294] for this Conspiracy, and Beheaded many years after, (when he had been Ge­neral by the King's Commission, and had by that, Power over the Lives of many others, contrary to the Civil Law, which says, He that hath Power over the Lives of others, ought to be Master of his own;) as to shew the perversion of Justice in that Reign, and the poorness of the King's Spirit to be gull'd at that rate by his Mi­nisters, in this, as well as other Particulars: Sir Walter was Tryed at Winchester, and made a brave Defence; All the material Evidence brought against him, was, the Lord Cobham's Accusation, which he only desired might appear, (viva voce) and he would yield without any further Defence; but that would not be granted, for they knew full well, Cobham would not, or could not accuse him, you must know, Wade, then Lieutenant of the Tower, and a great Creature of the Earl of Salisbury's, had tampered with Cobham about the aforesaid Accusation of Rawleigh, knowing Cobham's weakness, but that would not do, and therefore he circumvented him one day, by getting of him to set his Name in a blank piece of Paper, and so filled up the Accu­sation himself; Salisbury, Rawleigh's great Enemy, being thus armed against him, ur­g [...]d Sir Walter several times to yield upon the producing of his Accusation under Cob­ham's own Hand; Sir Walter answered, he knew Cobham's weak Judgment, and did [Page 295] not know how far he might be imposed upon, but was confident he would not ac­cuse him to his Face, and therefore would not put his Life upon that hazard; and thus the Trial held till nine at night; at last, his Fate carried him against his Rea­son, and he yielded upon the producing his Hand, which was immediately done, (and it was in truth his Hand) but none of his Act. It happened some years after this, that Queen Anne fell into a desperate and 'twas believed, incureable fit of Sick­ness, and [...]hen the Skill of all her Physici­ons had failed, Sir Walter, by his long Stu­dies▪ having arrived to an admirable Per­fection in Chymistry, was sent to, who undertook and performed the Cure, for which he would receive no other Reward, but that her Majesty would procure certain Lords to be sent to Cobham, to examine him, Whether he had accused Sir Walter Rawleigh of Treason at any time under his Hand. The King, at the Queen's Request, as in Justice he could do no less, sent six Lords, viz. the Duke of Lennox, the Earls of Salisbury, Worcester, Suffolk, Sir George Carew, and Sir Julius Caesar, to Interro­gate with Cobham upon the said Head; Cobham protested he never did nor could accuse Sir Walter, but said, That Villain Wade, after a long Sollicitation so to do, but not prevailing, got him by a trick to write his Name upon a piece of Paper, which he dreaming of no harm, did, so [Page 296] that if any Charge came under his Hand, it must have been forged by Wade, by Writing something above his Name, with­out his Consent or Privity; The Lords returning to the King, made Salisbury their Spokesman, who elusively said, Sir, My Lord Cobham hath made good all that ever he said; and so the matter rested, Sir Walter being no ways relieved hereby, but the King further possest with his guilt; but surely the baseness of those Lords, and the King's credulity, were unpardon­able Crimes.

Soon after this Hodge-podge of a Plot, the King and Queen were Crowned in great Pomp at Westminster; And the same year a Conference was managed at Hampton-Court, between the Prelatical and Puritan Party, the latter conceiving great hopes, that because of the King's Education in the Scots Discipline, he would be of their side, but they mistook quite their mark, for he was by that time become Heart and Soul Episcopal, and to give evi­dent Demonstration of his entire Conver­sion, issues out a Proclamation, (of which no Prince was ever so prodigal, and which at last, as naturally happens, were as little regarded) for Uniformity in Religion ac­cording to Law Established; then at length comes a Parliament, between whom and the King, notwithstanding some mutual Caresses for a time, arose several Jars and Jealousies, but the discovery of the Gun-Powder [Page 297] Treason attributed to the King's Wisdom and Foresight, seemed for a time to heal all the Breaches; which hellish Contrivance against the King and King­dom, will fall pertinently enough to be noted in this place. The Popish Party finding their Petition for a Toleration of Religion rejected, grew enraged thereat, and now nothing would serve but the De­struction of King, Prince, and the Repre­sentative Body of the whole Nation in Parliament; and to that end they hid 36 Barrels of Gun-Powder under the Parlia­ment House; the principal Contriver whereof was Robert Catesby, a Gentleman of a plentiful Estate, who made choice of Thomas Piercy, Winter Grant, Ambrose Rookwood, (I am told, the Ancestor of the late Ambrose Rookwood executed for Conspiring the Death of our Renowned Sovereign King William) Wright, Tresham, Sir Everard Digby, and others, who are all bound to Secresie by those Sacraments which are the greatest Ties upon the Soul, and St. Garnet, the Jesuit, was their Confessor: Piercy was to hire the Cellars under the Parliament House, to lay Wood and Coals in for his Winters Store, and Guido Faux, a desperate Ruffian, (who was to give Fire to the Train) was appointed to be his Man to bring in Wood and Coals; The Gun-Powder bought in Flan­ders, was brought in the Night from Lam­beth, [Page 298] and covertly laid under the Wood, and every thing made ready against the 7th of February, whereon the Parliament was to meet; but the Parliament being providentially Prorogued to the 5th of November following, this dispersed the Con­spirators for the present, and made them almost at their Wits end; but reassum­ing again their former Courage, they re­solve to carry on their Villany, and to bear up with Patience till the day came; They were sure the King and Prince must perish with the blow, as for the Duke of York, Piercy undertook to dispatch him, but the Lady Elizabeth they resolved to save, that under her Minority and Inno­cency, they might the better establish their Bloody Principles of Piety and Policy, and to that end they appointed a great Hunting Match to be at Dunsemore-Heath in War­wickshire, to be nearer the Lord Harrington's House, where the Lady Elizabeth then was on the 5th of November aforesaid; Thus Solacing themselves in this Bloody Expe­ctation, and thinking all Cock-sure, one tender-hearted Murderer among the rest, writ a Letter to the Lord Monteagle, wish­ing him to have a care of himself, and to forbear his Attendance at that Parliament, for God and Man had concurred to punish the Wickedness of the time, and they should receive a terrible blow, and yet not see who hurt them; The Lord [Page 299] Monteagle thinking there might be some­thing in the Letter o [...] dangerous Conse­quence, though he understood it not, car­ried the same to the Earl of Salisbury, who also could not tell what to make of it; but upon the King's coming to Whitehall from Royston, where he had been Hunting of a Hare, he shewed him the Letter, who being naturally of a fearful Temper, and suspicious Mind, ordered the Earl of Suffolk, and Lord Monteagle, to make a search about the Parliament House, who entring into the Cellar, and observing the Stores as aforesaid, enquired of the Ward­robe Keeper, Mr. Winyard, (who was also House-keeper) whose they were; Winyard replied, he had let the Cellar to one Thomas Percy, and close in a Corner there stood Faux, who being asked, who he was, said, Percy's Servant: The Lords for the present left all things as they found them, but departed full of Suspicion; the Lord Monteagle assuring himself, the foremen­tioned Letter must come from Percy, for there were some little intimacy between them; and gave the King and Council a Relation of their Proceedings, who re­solved that night to make a further search, and committed it to the management of Sir Thomas Knevet, a Gentleman of ap­proved Fidelity, and who with a suitable Assistance, coming to the Cellar about midnight, met Faux at the Door, on [Page 300] whom he presently seized, and proceed­ing in his search, pulled out the Core of all that Horrid Contrivance; whereupon Faux confessed all, being only sorry it came not to perfection, and saying, God would have concealed it, and the Devil only discovered it: In his Pockets they found a Watch, (which were not common then) and a Tinder-Box, Engines to minute out his time to strike the fatal blow: The Conspirators finding all detected, hastened for all that to the Hunting Match afore­said, furnishing themselves with Horses by breaking open several Stables, and taking their choice, but the Sherriffs of Warwick­shire and Worcestershire pursued them so hard, that at last they were forced to earth themselves at Littleton's House at Halbech, where Percy and Catesby were slain with a few more, and the rest taken Prisoners, and afterwards Hanged: This happy Deliverance was Celebrated with great Joy, and Foreign Princes, though Popish, would Congratulate the Disco­very▪ and the Parliament made an Act for the perpetual Solemnizing of the day of Deliverance with publick Thanksgivings. So things continued for a time, and the King of Denmark, the Queen's Brother, coming over to visit the King and his Sister, the Summer following added a greater gust to the Recreations and Pa­stimes of the Court, now wallowing in [Page 301] all sensual Pleasures, as if the Devil was quite laid, and ne'er more Storms to be feared from any Quarter; but the Par­liaments stiffness to supply their Court Extravagancies in time of Peace; and re­jection of the King's much desired pro­posal to unite both Nations by a Natu­ralization of the Scots, without they would come under the English Laws and Government, was some allay to his De­lights; At last, an accident broke out, which wrought in him no small disquiet, as you have already heard, while King James was only King of Scotland, that he was entirely at his Favourites Devotion, which as has been related had many Tra­gical Effects; you must know, he was be­come no changling now he was King of England; and among others, one Robert Carr, a young Man, of no fortune in the World, and who it seems had been for­merly one of his Pages in Scotland, com­ing to Court in a good Garb, and being a comely Person, was taken notice of by the King, and in a short time was Knight­ed by him, made Gentleman of his Bed-Chamber, Viscount Rochester, and at length Earl of Sommerset, and over-topped all the rest of his Favourites abundantly, even to Cope with the Prince himself, who dis­daining to be thus bearded by an upstart of yesterday, would not afford him a good [Page 302] look, nor speak to him; and some said, that some love Jealousies, the Prince being now in his Puberty, encreased the Emu­lation between Carr and him. The Coun­tess of Essex, then a top Gallant Lady in the Bloom of her years, and disdaining the Company of the Noble Earl her Hus­band, being the Bane of Contention be­tween them; but be this as it will, the Coun­tess was enamoured on the Favourite, and cast her Love-Anchor there; but I should think the Prince above all these Thoughts, by the following passage; for being on a time Dancing among the Ladies, and the Countesses Glove falling down, it was taken up and presented to him, by one that thought he did him acceptable Service, but the Prince refused to receive it, saying publickly, He would not have it, it was streatched by another, meaning Carr, then Viscount Rochester.

But things could not continue long in this State, for as the Court were full of Rejoy­cings upon the Palsgrave's arrival in Eng­land to Marry the Lady Elizabeth; there was a damp struck upon the Hearts of all true Englishmen upon the suddain immature and I doubt, violent death of the Noble Prince Henry in the flower of his years; Sir A. W. says, his death had been foretold by one Bruce a famous Scotch Astrologer, for the which the Earl of Salisbury caused him to be banished, who left this farewell with [Page 303] the Earl; That it should be too true, but that his Lordship should not live to see it; The Earl dying in Day, and the Prince in November following, to the infinite grief of all but Sommerset, and the Family of the Howards, who by his death thought themselves secu­red from all future dangers; for he being an open Prince, and hating all baseness, would often say, He would not leave one of that Family to piss against a Wall. I do not know why Sir Anthony might not have put the King himself into the foresaid number; I am sure he shewed but small symptoms of Sorrow at his death, which happened (as was said) but then in November, by his commanding no Man should appear at Court in Mourning in the Christmass Ho­lidays following, the Jollity, Feasting, and Magnificence whereof must not be laid aside upon any account whatsoever; it is certain that the Princes Court was frequented more than the King's, and by another sort of Men; so that the King, upon seeing of him once at a distance in the Park, with a far more numerous Train than himself, was heard to say, What will he bury me alive. jealousie is like a fire that burns all before it, and that fire is hot enough to dissolve all Bonds that tend to the diminution of a Crown; Don Carlos, Prince of Spain, and Henry's Contemporary, not long before this, for wishing himself but one day in his Fa­ther's Throne, fell soon after into the hard [Page 304] hand of an immature fate; However, it were the manner of the Prince's death was variously rumour'd, some saying he was poison'd with a bunch of Grapes, others with the venemous scent of a pair of Gloves presented to him; and some again, that a French Physician gave him poison; and it was observed, that poison was never more in fashion than at this time; but surely there was something black enough in it; for when Sir Thomas Mouson, a long time af­ter, who was one of the Countess of Essex's Agents in the poisoning of Sir Thomas Over­bury had past one days Trial at Guildhall, the Lord Chief Justice Coke vented some ex­pressions, as if he could discover more than the death of a private Person, say­ing, God knows what is become of that sweet Babe Prince Henry, but I know somewhat; and blessing himself at the horror of such villanies as came to his knowledge; and 'twas believed, that in searching the Cabi­nets, he had lighted on some Papers that spake plain in that which was ever whisper­ed; and what strongly increased the suspicion was, that Monson's Trial was laid aside, he quickly set at liberty, and the Chief Ju­stices wings clipt for ever after. And no less jealousie did something rela­ting to the Earl of Somerset's Trial for the said Murder of Overbury, create in Men's Minds about this matter; for when the Lieu­tenant of the Tower, according to Custom, [Page 305] gave Somerset notice of his Trial next day, he absolutely refused it, saying, They should carry him in his Bed, that the King had assured him, he should not come to any Trial, neither durst the King bring him to any; this was an high strain, and a Language not under­stood by Sir George Moor the Lieutenant, and tho' otherwise esteemed a wise Man, it reduced him to his Wits end; After some pauses, he at last resolves to go to the King, then at Greenwich, as late as it was, being Twelve a Clock at night; he bounced at the Back Stairs as if he had been mad; to whom Jo. Leveston, one of the Grooms came out of his Bed, and enquired the rea­son of that unreasonable distemper; Moor tells him he must speak with the King im­mediately, Loveston answered, He was quie­ted; meaning in his Scottish Dialect, He was fast asleep, but Moor said he must awake him, and so was called in and left alone with the King in his Bed-chamber, where he tells him those passages that happened between Sommerset and himself, and desired to be directed by the King what he should do; for he was gone beyond his Reason to hear such bold and undutiful Expressions from a faulty Subject against a Just Sove­reign; Hereupon the King falls into a fit of Tears, and said, On my Soul, Moor, I wot not what to do, thou art a Wise Man, help me in this great streight; and thou shalt [Page 306] find thou dost it for a faithful Master; with other sad Expressions to the same purpose; Moor leaves the King in that Agony, but first assured him, he would strain his Wits to the utmost for to serve his Majesty, and was really rewarded with a Suit worth 1500 Pounds, tho' he was cheated of one half by a true Scot that pretended great friendship to him; he returned to Sommerset about Three next Morning, which was the day he was to come to his Trial, and told him, he had been with the King; found him a most Affectionate Master, and full of Grace in his intentions towards him; but said for to satisfy Justice the Earl must appear, tho' to return again instantly, without any fur­ther proceedings against him; and that thereby he should come to know his Ene­mies, and their Malice, tho' they should have no power to hurt him; with this de­vice he allaid the Earl's Fury, and got him quietly about Eight in the Morning to the Hall; yet fearing his former bold Language might revert him again, and that finding himself thus brought within the Toye by this trick, he might be more enraged to fly into some strange discovery; he took care to place two Servants on each side of him; every one having a Cloak on their Arms, and gave them a positive Command, If Sommerset did any way fly out against the King, that they should immediately Hood­wink [Page 307] him with the Cloak, take him by force from the Bar and carry him away, for which he would not only secure them from any danger, but they should be sure of a bountiful Reward; but the Earl find­ing himself over-reached; recollected a better temper and went on calmly in his Tryal, where he held the Court till Seven at night; but he that had seen the King's restless motion, and concernedness of Mind all that day, by his sending to every Boat he saw landing at the Bridge, and cursing all that came without tidings, would have easily judged, all was not right, and that there were very good grounds for Sommer­set's boldness; but at last having word brought him that he was condemned, with the particulars of the Trial, all was quiet. You may judge of the Story as you please, but my Author Sir A. W. says, he and an­other Gentleman had it from Sir George Moor's own Mouth in Wanstead Park; and 'tis very remarkable, that tho' the King made the most direful imprecations that could be to Sir Edward Coke at Theobalds, upon the discovery of Overbury's Murder, he would pardon any thing of them, yet he gave both the Earl and Countess (as deep in the sudds as any) a Lease of their Lives, allowed the Earl 4000 l. per Annum, and kept correspondence with him by Letters, almost every week to his dying day. I shall [Page 308] not enter upon any further narration of Overbury's death, of the Countess of Essex Divorce, and her Marriage with Sommerset, how the Discovery was made, how the King was made a Pimp (as he told Sir Edward Coke) to carry on their Bawdry and Mur­der, as being not pertinent to the present Design; but acquaint you that the Lady Arabella Steward (whose Genealogy we have already given you) dying about this time in the Tower, sets Mens Tongues and Fears at work that she went the same way; she had been Married some years before to Sir William Seymour, Son to the Lord Beauchamp, and Grandchild to Edward Earl of Hertford, and both of them being at some distance allyed to the Crown, such a conjunction would not be admitted in the Royal Almanack, so dreadful is every Ap­parition that comes near Princes Titles, especially if they light upon jealous and weak Minds. Sir William was for the Mar­riage committed to the Tower, and the La­dy Arabella confined to her House at High­gate; but both of them after some impri­sonment, concluded to make their escape together beyond Sea, appointing to meet at a certain place upon the Thames: Sir William leaving his Man in his Bed to act his part with his Keeper, got out of the Tower in disguise, and came to the place appointed; she dress'd like a young Gal­lant [Page 309] in Man's Cloaths, followed him from her House, but staying somewhat longer than the limited time, it made him suspi­cious of her interception, so that he went away, leaving notice if she came, that he was gone away before for Dunkirke; the poor Lady thus desolate, fraught with Fears, and lugging in her slight was apprehended, and sent in her Hus­band's room into the Tower, where she ended her sorrowful days, somewhat too early, as was generally believed, tho' no clear proof thereof could e'r be made; it's certain the King was very jealous of his Title to the Crown, which at times made him very uneasy, tho' besides actual possession, he had apparently the best of any Title in the World, and the free Speeches of his Subjects upon that head, did not a little contribute to that uneasiness, as was that of Tobie Matthews Bishop of Durham, who being at Law with the King about some Priviledges, which he claimed in his Bishoprick; and having one day stated the case before some of his Friends, and they seeming to approve of it, Yes, says the Bishop, I could wish he had but half as good a Title to the Crown. But one Hydra's Head is no sooner cut off, but up starts another; one of the Judges for Wales being about this time holding the general Assizes at Pembrooke, there was a­mong [Page 310] other Malefactors brought to the Bar to be Tryed for Murder, one whose Name was Plantagenet, a Name that for some hundreds of years had swayed the English Scepter, from the time of Henry II. down to Henry VII. the Judge hearing of the Name, deferred the Man's Tryal, and sends to acquaint the King with it, who up­on the news, was in no small tiff, but dis­patcht away Orders immediately to bring the Man up: when he was brought into his Presence, Cousin, said he, How do you do? the poor Man in a trembling amazement, made no ready Answer; but at length re­collecting his Spirits, replyed, He knew of no Relation he was to his Majesty; nay, but, said the King, If thy Name be Plantagenet, thou must be my Cousin; and so entring into another Communion with him, engaged him, for a considerable Reward, to change his Name into that of Steward, from whom, as I have been credibly informed, the Fa­mily of the Stewards, late of the County of H. but now extinct, were descended.

It was now the Fifteenth year of the King's Reign, when he goes to visit his Na­tive Country of Scotland, accompanied with Buchingham, now prime Favourite; but upon his return, some of the looser Bi­shops, pretending Recreations and Liberty to Servants, and the common People (of which they craved to themselves too much [Page 311] already) procured the King to put out a Book to permit Dancing about Maypoles, Churchyards, and such debauched exerci­ses upon the Lords Day, after Evening Prayer, wherein all Ministers were enjoin­ed to read it to their Parishioners, and those that refused, were brought into the High Commission, which was Plague sufficient; but this brought him some disquiet, and particularly one time the King being to go from London to Theobalds on a Monday Morning, his Carriages must go through the City on the Sabbath-day before, with a great deal of clutter and noise in the time of Divine Worship, which coming to the Ears of the Lord Mayor, he commanded them to be stopped, and this carried the Affairs of the Carriages with a great deal of violence into the Court, and having represented the business to the King, with as much asperity as Men in Authority, cros­sed in their Humors, could express the same; it put the King into a great Rage, Swearing, He thought there was no more Kings in England but himself; but after he was a little calmed, he sent a Warrant to the Lord Mayor, commanding him to let them pass, which he obeyed, with this Answer, While it was in my power, I did my Duty, but that being taken away by a higher Power, It's my Duty to obey; which the King upon se­cond [Page 312] Thoughts took so well, that he thank­ed him for it And now the Troubles of his Daughter and Son-in-law, by assuming the Crown of Bohemia, come on apace; which ended, not only in the loss of that Crown, but even of his own Patrimony the Palatinate; and together, with the Match with Spain for his Son Prince Charles per­plex'd the remainder of his Reign, and wrought him continual trouble, having spent more Treasure upon Embassies; when the former then would have raised and main­tained a sufficient Army to recover his Son-in-law's Patrimony, owning in his Speech to the Parliament, Jan. 20. and the Eigh­teenth year of his Reign; that my Lord Doncaster's Journey upon that account had cost him Three thousand five hundred Pounds: but he was very modest, and min­ced the matter, being indeed ashamed to tell the whole Summ, which amounted to a far greater proportion, and may be guessed at by the following Relation: When he Landed at Rotterdam, his Expences the first Morning before he went to the Hague, in the Inn where he lay, came to above Two hundred Pounds; now this splendid and expensive Living coming to be known by the Inn keeper of the Peacock at Dort, &c. (hoping he would make that place in his way to Germany) made great preparations for him of his own head, without any other [Page 313] Order; but my Lord taking his way by Ʋtrecht, the Inn-keeper followed him, com­plaining heavily, how he was baulked in his expectations, and what Charge he had been at to provide for his Lordship; which at length coming to the Lord's Ear, he commanded his Steward to give him Thir­ty Pounds, and never tasted of his Fare; and it was credibly assured by some of his Retinue, that his very Carriage could cost no less than Threescore Pounds a day, for he had abundance of young Nobles and others in his company, so that upon a mo­dest computation of the whole expence of his Journey, it could amount to no less than Fifty or Threescore thousand Pounds; while he was at the Hague, some advised old Maurice, Prince of Orange, our King William's Great Unkle to Feast him; Yes,, Yes, said the Prince, Bid him come; when the Steward had notice hereof, how the Prince took no farther notice of the mat­ter, he attended the Prince, and told him, there would be great preparations expect­ed, for the Ambassadors Ordinary Meals were Feasts, and he had a very numerous and splendid Train of Nobles and Gentry, that did accompany him; Well, said the Prince, Prepare me a Dinner, such as I used to have, and let me see the Bill of Fare; when the Steward brought the Bill, the Prince li­ked it very well, but the Steward said, Sir, [Page 314] This is but your ordinary Diet, now you should have something exttaordinary, because this is an Extraordinary Ambassador; the Prince thinking what the Steward said to be some­thing reasonable, and finding but one Pig set down in the Bill, commanded him to put down another Pig, and that was all the additions he would make; for know­ing the Ambassador to be a Scotch Man, and that they generally hate Swines flesh, it seems he thought nothing a fitter Enter­tainment for him than a couple of Pigs; but the King's mincing of these matters, his many Carresses, Huffs and Protestations would not do with the Parliament; for there was such a multiplication of Grievances, and infringments of the Peoples Liberty, and such a backwardness from the Court for the redress of them, that at length they were dissolved in displeasure, and this set every Man's Tongue loose upon him, that tho' the King loved Hunting above all other exercises, and had many good Hunt­ers about him, yet all these, and the strength of a Proclamation to forbid talking of State Affairs, could not refrain them from mouth­ing it out, that Great Brittain was become less than little England, that they had lost strength by changing Sexes; and that he was no King but a Fidlers Son, otherwise he would not have suffered so many disorders at home, and so much dishonour abroad; and the story [Page 315] of David Riccius, (saith Wilson) writ­ten by Buchanan the King's own Tutor, had been like to die in every Englishman's Opinion, if it had not had a new impres­sion by these miscarriages.

These Domestick Troubles, toge­ther with the many delays, and dissatisfactions he received from Spain and Rome, about the Spanish Match, begot him so much trouble and vexation of Spirit, that pressing upon his Natural Temper, it wrought some Fits of Melancholy in him, which those about him with facetious Mirth, would strive to mitigate; and having exhausted their store, or not making use of such as were more pregnant, Buckingham and his Mother, instead of Mirth, fell upon Prophaneness, thinking thereby to please him, and perhaps, (says Wilson) they were only mistaken in the unseasonableness of the time, being not then suitable to the Humour; for they caused Mrs. Aspernham, a young Gentlewo­man of the Kindred, to dress a Pig like a Child, and the old Countess like a Midwife brought it into the King in a rich Mantle; And then Turpin, who had Married one of the [...] Kindred, (whose Name was re­nowned [Page 316] for a Bishop in the Ro­mances of the Emperor Charlemaigne) was drest like a Bishop in a Sattin Gown, Lawn Sleeves, and other Pon­tifical Ornaments; who with the Com­mon-Prayer Book, began the Words of Baptism, one attending with a silver Bason of Water for the Ser­vice: The King hearing the Cere­mony of Baptism read, and the squeek­ing noise of the Brute Animal, which he most abhorred, turned about to see what Pageant it was, and finding Turpin's Face, which he very well knew, drest like a Bishop, and Buck­ingham, whose Face [...]he most of all loved, stand for God-Father, he cried out, Away, for shame, what Blasphemy is this; and turning aside with a frown, turned all the sport and jol­lity they expected, to a cold damp of Spirit: Neither did the Prince's going into Spain any ways mend the matter, but made it every way worse and worse, for in stead of Consum­mating, he and Buckingham quite broke off the Match, which King James had so much set his rest upon, but what was worst of all, the Duke did so wind himself into the Affe­ctions of the Prince, that he governed the Son now as Despotically as e­ver [Page 317] he had done the Father, and this had another Misfortune attending of it, that the rising Sun was now Worshipped, and the old King neg­lected, which yet he had not power to redress, and which no doubt hastned his Fate, as we are now just ready to relate unto you.

The King, who was the most im­patient of all Men, to be told of his Faults, was so out of love with Par­liaments for that very Reason, that by his Good-Will he would never have called another; but Dire ne­cessity, which has no Law, brought him once more to it, and so a Par­liament was Summoned to meet on the Twelfth of February, Anno 1623. but that same morning, as a kind of Presage of his own Destiny, the King missed the Duke of Richmond's Atten­dance, who being a constant observer of him at all times, the King did now as it were want one of his Limbs to support the Grandeur of His Ma­jesty at such a Solemnity; and call­ing for him with great Earnestness, he dispatched a Messenger to his Lodg­ings in all haste, where the King's Command, and the Messengers impor­tunity, made the Dutchess his Wife [Page 318] somewhat unwillingly go to his Bed­side, when drawing the Curtain, she found him Dead in his Bed, the sad News whereof was carried with that violence to the King, that he would not Adorn himself that day to Ride in Pomp to the Parliament House, but put it off till the nineteenth of Fe­bruary, Dedicating some part of that time to the memory of his dead Ser­vant.

The Parliament sate at the time ap­pointed, and upon Buckingham's fine Narration about the Spanish Match, advised the King to break off the Treaty with Spain, which the King himself seemed forward to promote, being now got quite into the Prince and Duke's Toll, and sets a Trea­ty of Marriage on Foot with France. But before the entire Consummation of the same, as the Duke of Rich­mond was the long, so now the Mar­quess of Hamilton was the short fore­runner of the King's Death; both which, 'twas believed, were for­warded by the same hand. The Marquess Died with very presumptu­ous Symptoms of being Poisoned, his Head and Body swelling to an exces­sive bigness, and the Body being all [Page 319] over full of great Blisters, with va­riety of Colours; the Hairs of his Head, Eye-brows and Beard, came off with a touch, and brought the Skin with them; great Clamour there was about it in the Court, so that Do­ctors were sent for to view the Bo­dy, but the matter was hudled up, and little said of it; only Doctor Eglisham, a Scotch Man, was some­thing bitter against the Duke, as if he had been Author of it: 'Tis cer­tain, That the Marquess's unwilling­ness, that his Son should Marry the Earl of Denbigh's Daughter, the Duke's Niece, made a difference be­tween them, with some other con­curring Accidents, which however did not in this King's time break out into a Reflection upon the Duke, being bound up close, more (as it was thought) by his Power than his Innocence.

Not long after this, the King go­ing to his last Hunting Journey, to wit, the last of the year, as well as of his Life, he fell sick of a Terti­an Ague, which if we believe the Proverb, is not dangerous in the [Page 320] Spring, and had a few Fits of it; ha­ving this Ague upon him, the Coun­tess of Buckingham, who Trafficked much with Mountebanks, and whose Fame had no good savour, tampered with him in the absence of the Do­ctors, and the Duke her Son, when in the Judgment of the Physicians the Ague was in the decline, did apply Plaisters to the King's Wrists and Belly; and did also deliver several quantities of Drink to him, and told him they were approved Medecines, though some of the King's Physicians did disallow thereof, and refused to to meddle further with the King till the said Plaisters were removed, which the King much complained off, and was glad to have it pulled off, tho' with part of the Skin along with it; It's certain the King found himself much worse after the said application, and that an high Fever, Droughts, Raving, Fainting, and an intermit­tent Pulse followed thereupon; and 'tis manifest he was himself suspi­cious of foul play upon him, for when one of his faithful Servants saw him in one of his Fits, and to comfort him, said, [Page 321] Courage, Sir, this is but a small Fit, the next will be none at all. He answer'd, Ah, 'tis not the Ague that afflicts me, but the Black Plaister and Powder given me and laid to my Stomach by Buckingham: And he would often say to Montgomery, whom he trusted above all Men in the time of his Sickness, For God's sake look I have fair Play. When he was near the point of Death, as Buck­ingham entred the King's Chamber, one of his honest Servants said to him, Ah, my Lord, you have undone us all his poor Ser­vants, altho' you are so well provided for you need not care: With which words the Duke was so stung, (for where there is Guilt it will quickly appear) that he kickt at him, who caught his Foot, and made his Head first come to the ground; where pre­sently rising, he ran to the King's Bed-side, and cryed, Justice, Sir, I am abus'd by your Servant, and wrongfully accus'd: At which the poor King Mournfully fix'd his Eyes upon him, as if he would have said, Not wrongfully, yet without Speech or Sence; But before his Departure he called for the Prince his Son, who rising out of his Bed, something before day, and presenting him­self before him, the King rouzed up his Spirits, and raised himself up, as if he meant to speak to him, but Nature being exhau­sted, he had not strength to express his In­tentions; but soon after Expired, being upon Sunday Morning the 27th of March, 1625. at Theobalds, in the Eight and fifti­eth [Page 222] year of his Age, and the Two and twentieth of his Reign compleat, there be­ing more than a Presumption, that he run the same Destiny with his Ancestors, whose Deaths were Violent as well by Father, as Mother's side, which we have more parti­cularly noted; for Henry Stuart Lord Darn­ley, his own Father, was Strangled, and carry'd out of his House, and set under a Tree, and then his House Blown up with Gunpowder; his Grandfather Matthew Stuart Earl of Lenox, was Shot at Sterlin, of which Wound he some days after died; and his Great Grandfather John Stuart Earl of Lenox was slain near Linlithgow, in a Con­flict he had with the Hamiltonians and the Douglasses, about the Enlargement of James the Fifth. The Duke, 'tis true, did after­ward endeavour to Purge himself from the foremention'd Application, by alleadging, he had receiv'd both the Drink and Plai­ster from Doctor Remington at Dunmore in Essex, who had often Cured Agues and such Distempers with the same; yet they were Arguments of a complicated kind, and not to be easily unfolded; considering, that whatsoever he receiv'd from the Do­ctor in the Country, he might apply what he pleas'd to the King at the Court; and besides, had the Medicine been the best in the World, the Act was Daring, and no ways Justifiable in him, because he wanted the Consent of the King's Physitians there­to: and one of Buckingham's great Provo­cations [Page 323] was thought to be, that the King now being weary of his too much Great­ness and Power, was about to set up Bri­stol, his deadly Enemy against him to pull him down: The Application of this Me­dicine was one of the 13 Articles charged afterward upon the Duke by the Parlia­ment, who rarely accuse upon false Rumour, or bare Suggestion; and surely he will have work to do that takes upon him to excuse the King, his Successor, in this Matter for Dissolving the Parliament, to preserve one that was accus'd by them for Poisoning his Father; especially if it be consider'd, that the Commons had then Voted him Four Subsidies, and Four Fifteenths, which they had not time to pass into an Act. What did farther increase Mens suspicions, was, one Doctor Lamb (a Fellow of a most In­famous conversation) his frequenting to, and being much imploy'd by the Countess and her Son, which did at length so in­cense the People against him, that finding him in the Streets of London, An. 1628. they set upon him with Stones and Staves, and knocked out his Brains; as also one Butler an Irishman, that pretended to be a Chymist, and was very intimate with the foresaid Company, I mean the Duke and his Mother; and indeed, the Story of his Death (as was then reported) is a very convincing Evidence of some secret Machi­nation betwixt the Duke and him, which made the Duke be desirous to be rid of [Page 324] him: For Mischief (says Mr. Wilson) be­ing an ingrosser, is unsecured, unsatisfied, when their Wares are to be vented in many Shops. This Man was, by the Dukes means, recommended, upon some plausible pre­tence to some Jesuites beyond the Seas, where he was entertain'd with a great deal of specious Ceremony and Respect in one of their Colleges; and at Night being at­tended by them into his Chamber, with much Civility, which was hung with Ta­pestry, and had Tapers burning in stretch­ed-out-Armes upon the Wall; when they gave him the Good-night, they told him, they would send one should direct him to his Lodging; and they were no sooner out of the Room of Death, but the Floor, that hung upon great Hinges on one side, was let fall by Artificial Engines, and the poor Vermine Butler dropt into a Precipice, where he was never more heard of.

To conclude, King James was Learned, and had fine Notions in Conception, but could bring but few of them into Action, tho' they tended to his Honour and Safety; for this was one of his Apothegms, which he made no timely use of, Let that Prince that would beware of Conspiracies, be rather jealous of such, whom his extraordinary Favours have advanc'd, then of those whom his Displeasure hath discontented; these want Means to exe­cute their Pleasures, but they have means at pleasure to execute their desires. But a late Learned Author has exprest as much con­tempt [Page 325] of his Learning, as Ben Johnson did of his Poetry, saying, It was a Scandal to his Crown (meaning his Writings against Bellarmine and Perrone, about their King-killing, and King-deposing Doctrines) and it seems Henry 4. of France had not a much better opinion of the same; who, when he heard some Men Celebrating of him with these Attributes, answer'd truly e­nough, That he was a fine King indeed, and Wrote little Books.

King James was Succeeded by His Son Charles Stuart I. began His Reign over Great Britain, March 27th. 1625. Charles, in all His Dominions, but much more so in all His Misfortunes, for this was one of the unhappiest Prin­ces that ever Swayed a Scepter. There is little remarkable concerning this P [...]ce in his Infancy, only he was noted (as Lilly says) to be very wilful and obstinate, by the old Scottish Lady his Nurse, and even by his own Mother Queen Ann; who, be­ing told on a time, he was very Sick and like to die, said, He would not then die, but live to be the Ruine of himself, and the Three Kingdoms, through his too much Wilfulness. And it seems the Symptoms of his Fore-Fathers Destiny appear'd in his very Face; for his Picture having been presented to the then Duke of Tuscany, the first sight and inspe­ction thereof made him s [...]art, and say, He saw something in it that Presag'd a strange and violent Exit. Moreover, if what the said Author says be true, That Laud, at [Page 326] His Coronation at Westminster, alter'd the Old Coronation Oath, and framed another New one for him in the room of it; it was a foul stumble at first dash. It rarely hap­pens, and I think but very few Instances can be given, that one and the same Per­son proves a Favourite to Two Princes to­gether; but, it seems, nothing could re­sist the Charmes of the Glorious Bucking­ham, who now Governs the Son more De­spotically than 'er he had done the Father, and put him upon those very Expeditions, that, with other concurring Mismanage­ments, made Shipwrack of His Honour at home, procured him scorn and contempt abroad, and hastned those Calamities, which, at length, resolved in his own sad Catastro­phe and Ruine. But surely it argu'd a ve­ry mean and poor spirit in him, to take him into his Bosom, and to be govern'd by one, that had twice, in his Father's time, so highly affronted and disdain'd him; the first at Royston, before many People, by bidding of him, in plain terms, Kiss his A — And the second time at Green­wich, in the sight of about 400 Persons, when lifting up his hand over his head with a Ballon Brasser, and saying, in most undu­tiful terms to him, By G. it shall not be so, you shall not have it; The Prince answer'd, What, my Lord, I think you intend to strike me. It's true, to have forgotten, and ne­ver to revenge such Injuries when he had been King, had been worthy the Noble [Page 327] Mind of a Prince; but it also became him never to have suffer'd him to come near his Court, to be upbraided with the sight of so much scorn, that had been so publickly of­fer'd him: and some Criticks at Court at that time, did not stick to read his future Destiny. At King James's Death the Na­tion was rent into Four Factions, viz. the Prerogative, Popish, Puritan, and Country Party, which, in a short time, was reduc'd into two, the two former uniting their force against the other two; and one should have thought, it had been the busi­ness of the New King to have composed those first, rather then make War abroad: But King James his Body was scarce cold, when Buckingham put King Charles upon a War with Spain. Both of them, when in that Kingdom, had receiv'd so many Civi­lities from his Catholick Majesty, that they now resolve to Invade his Country with a Powerful Fleet, and a Land Army, under the Command of my Lord Wimbleton; but in their passage they met with a Furious Storm, which so scatter'd the Fleet, that of Eighty, no less than Fifty Ships were mis­sing for seven days. But this was but the beginning of the Misfortunes of this Mise­rable Expedition, for the Confusion of Or­ders was such, as the Officers and Soldiers scarce knew who to Command, or whom to Obey; so that when they came to Cadiz, a Conquest which would have paid the Charge of the Voyage, and to the Honour [Page 328] of the English, offer'd it self; for the Spa­nish Shipping in the Bay lay unprovided of defence, so as the surprising of them was both easie and feasible; but this was neg­lected, and when the Opportunity was lost, Sir John Burroughs Landed the Army, and took a Fort, but was forced to quit it be­cause of the Disorder and Intemperance of the Soldiers, who upon that return'd on Board again, and sailed away for England re insecta; which occasion'd no small cla­mour from the People, and especially in that none was punished for Mismanage­ment: But how dishonourable soever this Expedition was, the King and his Minister lost much more Reputation, by lending a Fleet to the French King, to beat that of the Rochellers under Monsieur Sobiez, the Great Duke of Roan's Brother, whereby a foundation was laid to ruin the Prote­stant Interest in France, and which all the power that e're they could afterward make, when the Tables were turned, could not relieve, though the Duke himself (who was much sitter for the Delicacies of a Court, than the toyls and stratagems of War) was at the head of it, and perished by the hands of Felton at Portsmouth, just as he was ready to Embark the second time in person for that purpose. It's true, the design was pur­sued by the Earl of Lindsey, who several times attempted to force the Barricadoes of the River before Rochel, but all in vain; or if he had, it would have been to no pur­pose, [Page 329] for the Victuals wherewith they should have been relieved, were all tainted, and all the Tackle and other Materials of the Fleet defective, so that they could not stay long there. The many and unheard-of Violations of the Priviledges of the Sub­ject by Loans, Benevolences, Ship-money, Coat and Conduct-money, &c. with the continual Jars between this King and all his Parliaments during his Reign, so as that there has been scarce three days of mutual harmony between them through­out, (which cannot be said of any other King since the Conquest how bad soever) his Imprisoning, Fining, and banishing of the Members, and his riding the Nation for above fifteen years together by more than a French Government, because they are noted else where, I think no where so well as in the History of the four last Reigns, Written by that Learned Gentleman, and my worthy good Friend when alive, Mr. Roger Coke; I shall not recite the same in this place, as not falling exactly under the notion of this Treatise: Tho I am to im­form you these were the things, together with the imposing the Service-Book up­on the Scots, where the Quarrel was begun by an Old Woman casting her Stool at the Priest, when he was read­ing of it, as they said; that were the foundation of those dreadful Wars waged so many years within the Bowels of the three Kingdoms, (which do not fall under [Page 330] our present consideration neither) and of the King's subsequent destiny, the Particu­lars whereof, with some other concurring and intervening accidents we shall give you at large.

After the War had been manag'd be­tween the King and Parliament with various fortune for some years, and several Trea­ties set on foot to compose those unhappy and fatal Differences, at last came the fatal day wherein the Quarrel came to be decided between them at Naseby in Nor­thamptonshire, which was on Saturnday June 14. 1645. Sir Thomas Fairfax was the Parliaments General, and the King com­manded his own Army in Person; who in the beginning of the Fight prevailed, for Prince Rupert Routed the Parliaments Left Wing commanded by Ireton, but Pursuing to far left the Kings Left Wing open to be charged by Cromwel, who falling furiously on, and the rest Rallying, obtained a most absolute Victory. But among the vast num­ber of Prisoners and Horses taken with Arms and Ammunition, that which was even a greater loss to the King then the Battle, was, that one of his Coaches, with his Cabinets of Letters and Papers fell into the Parliaments hands, whereby his most Secret Counsels with the Queen, which were so contrary to those he declared to the King­dom, were discovered: For in one of his Letters he declared to her, his intention to make Peace with the Irish, and to have [Page 331] 40000 of them over into England, to prosecute the War there: In others he complained, he could not prevail with his Mungrel Parliament at Oxford (so he was pleased to call those Gentlemen who had stuck to him all along) to Vote that the Parliament at Westminster were not a Law­ful Parliament: That he would not make Peace with the Rebels (the Parliament) without her approbation, nor go one jot from the Paper She sent him; That in the Treaty at Ʋxbridge he did not positively own the Parliament, it being otherwise to be constru'd, tho' they were so simple as not to find it out, and it was Recorded in the Notes of the King's Council, that he did not acknowledge them a Parliament. Which Papers the Members took care to Print and Publish to the World, and shew­ed by a publick Declaration what the Nobility and Gentry who followed the King might trust too, and I dare say, this stuck so close in the Minds of many, that nothing contributed more to his Ruine, then this double dealing of his. Now the King's Garrisons surrender by heaps, Oxford was the last, which being blocked up by the Parliaments Forces, the King thought himself in no security in it; For the Parliament refused to admit him to come to London, unless he signed their propositi­ons, wherefore the French Ambassador in the Scots Quarters advising him to throw himself into the Scots Power, it was Hobson's [Page 332] Choice, one even as good as the other, and so being accompany'd by one Hudson a Minister, and Mr. John Ashburnham, he threw himself into the Scots hands; who having got him into their Power, resolve to make a double Bargain of him, viz. to have him to order Montross to disband his Army and retire into Scotland, and then to Sell him to the Parliament for as much Money as they could get for him. The first is no sooner ask'd but granted; but the bargain for the Sale of him (and surely never was any King in this World so un­happy as to be sold by his own Subjects before himself) being a mighty business to the Scots, it lasted from the 5th. of May 1646 to January following, when being concluded, the Parliament who now had a full right to him, after they had bought him, confine him to [...]oldenby-house, an House of his own in Northamptonshire, under a select Guard of their own choosing: So that as Mr. Cook observes, he that before had sifted the worthy Members of Parlia­ment from one Prison to another, that they might not have the benefit of their Habeas Corpus's, and the Constables of Hertfordshire from one Messenger to another, is himself sifted Prisoner from one place to another without any hope of an Habeus Corpus: And as he before by his absolute Will and Pleasure, would without any Law seize his Subjects Goods and commit them to Prison, as also raise Ship-money in an Arbitrary [Page 333] manner, so he cannot now enjoy his own Estate in his own House, nor has one Ship to command. Soon after this the Parlia­ment and Army began to be jealous of each other; and the latter having no face of Authority to recur unto, the Presbyterian Members in both Houses being three to one, what do they do but send Cornet Joyce with a Party of Horse on the 4th of June 1647 to take the King out of the Parliaments Commissioners hands and to keep him in the Army; which however he might take it, was not designed for his advantage, tho' they seemed to lament the hard conditions the Members imposed up­on him not only in his Liberty, but in keep­ing him from his Children and Friends; and now they allow him both, professing they would never lay down Arms until they had put the Scepter into his hands, and procured better Conditions for his Friends: And in order hereunto, they seem to joyn the King's Interests with their own, and in their Declaration for Redress of Grievances, declare for the King and Peo­ple, that the Members prefix a certain time for their Sitting, and charge 11 of the leading Members that had been most for­ward to establish the Covenant with being guilty of High Treason, and most of them fled for it. The Covenanters could not but see whither these proceedings tended, and therefore they had upon the 4th of May settled the Militia of London in the hands [Page 334] of the Presbyterians, but upon a Letter from the General or the 10th of June to the Parliament, that the Militia of London might be put into the hands of Persons better affected to the Army, the Commons tamely Submitted to it, and repealed the foresaid Ordinance of the 4th of May. But the City-Men in Common Counsel Petition the Commons against this, in­sisting upon their own Right to dispose of the Militia: The Lords upon the Read­ing of the Petition revoke the Ordinance of the Commons of July 23 and confirm that of the 4th of May, according to the Cities desire, and kept back some of the Com­mons till the Members within had agreed to it, and enforced the Speaker to pass a Vote that the King should come to London, and so both Houses Adjourned for four days. In this Interval the Members who favoured the Army, and the Speakers of both Houses went to the Army, and there complained of the Violences put upon the Parliament; and the Houses after the ex­piration of the four days Adjournment, meet, and chose new Speakers, and Voted, 1. That the King should come to London. 2. That the Militia of London should be Authoriz'd to raise Forces for the defence of the City. 3. That power be given to the same Militia to choose a General. 4. And that the Eleven Members Im­peach'd by the Army should take their Seats in the Parliament. The Citizens [Page 335] hereupon proceed to raise Forces, which, tho' Numerous, yet being raw and not fit to cope with an old Experienc'd and Victorious Army, they were forced to come to Terms and comply with the Army in their demands; so that in short the Speakers and Members returned again, and recinded all that was done since the 26th of July, and Voted several Lords guilty of High Treason, and the Lord Mayor with several other Citizens were committed Prisoners to the Tower upon the same account. The King could not but conceive some hopes from these Broyls, that might tend to his Advantage, and indeed both Parliament and Army seem to Court him now, and the Parliament sent propositions of Peace to him at Hamp­ton-Court; but Cromwel was as fearful the King should agree with the Parliament as the King was unwilling to agree to them, and therefore Cormwel gave the Com­missioners instructions, that if the King would assent to Propositions lower then those of the Parliament, that the Army would settle him again in his Throne; hereupon the King returned Answer to the Parlia­ment, that he waved now the Propositions put to him, or any Treaty upon them, flies to the Proposals of the Army, and urges a Treaty upon them, and such as he shall make; professes he will give Satis­faction, to settle the Protestant Religion, with Liberty to tender Consciences, to [Page 336] secure the Laws, Liberty and Property and Priviledges of Parliaments, and as for those concerning Scotland he would Treat apart with the Scots Commissioners. Upon Reading of the King's Answer, a day was appointed by either House to consider of it, and in the mean time they order'd the same to be communicated to the Scotch Commissioners. It was affirmed in those times that Cromwel had made a private Article with the King, that if the King closed with the Propositions of the Army, Cromwel should be Advanced to a degree higher than any other, as Earl of Essex and Vicar-General of England, as Thomas Cromwel in Henry 8 time was. But it seems he was so uxorious that he would do nothing without communicating it to the Queen, and so wrote to her; That tho' he assented to the Armies Proposals, yet if by assenting to them he could procure a Peace, it would be easier then to take of Cromwel, than now he was the head that govern'd the Army. Cromwel who had his Spies upon every motion of the King intercepts these Letters, and resolved never to trust the King again, yet doubted that he could not manage his designs, if the King were so near the Parliament and City at Hampton-Court; Therefore Crom­wel sent to the King that he was in no safety at Hampton-Court, by reason of the hatred which the Adjutators bore to him, and that he would be in more safty in [Page 337] the Isle of Wight, and so upon the 11th of November at night made his escape, having Post-horses, and a Ship provided for him at South-hampton to that purpose. But when he came to the Island he was secured by Collonel Hammond, who gave the Parliament notice of it, from whence the King sent to the Members for a Personal Treaty of Peace at London, which after much debate was agreed to upon four Preliminaries, which the King utterly rejected, and so incensed the Houses that they Voted, that they would make no further applications or addresses to the King; That no other presume to make any application to him without leave from both Houses; That whoever Trans­gressed in that kind should be guilty of High Treason; That they would receive no more Messages from the King, and that none presume to bring any Message from him to either or both Houses of Parlia­ment or any other Person. These were hard lines to this unfortunate King, who now had no more to do then patiently to submit to what time produced; but how pleasing soever these Votes were to the Army, the Scots and diverse parts of the English Nation were not content with them, and so they rise in Arms in Essex, Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk, Wales and the North, and declare for the King and People: Part of the Fleet also Revolted to Prince Charles, but all these Revolts were quelled by a [Page 338] Victorious Army in a short time. But while the Army was busied abroad, the Members having gotten possession of the Fleet, and the City of London being well affected to them, they joyn with the Scotish Commissi­oners and rescine the Votes of the Non-addresses to the King, and appointed a con­ference with him at Newport in the Isle of Wight to continue for forty days, and to that purpose take him out of Prison, and allow him the Liberty of the Island; and the King upon the matter with reluct­ancy enough, grants the Scots, and the Members, their own Demands. But no endeavours of his Subjects, nor the joynt desires of the Scots and Members, could protect this unhappy Prince from his ap­proaching Ruine; for the Army now eve­ry where Victorious over the Scots and Royalists, draw together, and make a Re­monstrance against all Peace with the King, that Justice might be done upon Him, the Crown-land and Church-land might be sold to Pay their Army, and that the pre­sent Parliament be Dissolved, and another Called: But the Members were intent up­on the King's Answer to their Propositi­ons, and laid aside the Armies Remon­strance, which they take as a slighting of them, and then seized the King in the Isle of Wight, and make Him a Prisoner in Hurst-Castle, an unhealthy place, and March to London, putting Garrisons in Noblemen's Houses and Whitehall, and Post [Page 339] themselves about the Pallace-yard. But the Members for all this Met upon the First of Decemb. 1648. and Voted the King's Con­cessions to be a sufficient ground for a Peace, and then Adjourn'd for a Week: yet when they were to Meet again, they found all the Avenues to the House beset with Sol­diers, who Excluded all that were not of their Faction from entring the House, which were not one fourth part, and made the re­sidue Prisoners: This Juncto, called af­terward the Rump Parliament, having in this manner Purged the House, Assume to themselves the Supream Power of Order­ing the English Affairs, Confirm the Votes of Non-Addresses, and raze the Votes of having a Conference with the King, and the Declaration that the King's Concessi­ons were a sufficient ground for a Peace, out of the Journals of the House; and Vote, First, That all Power resides in the Peo­ple. Secondly, That the Power belongs to the Peoples Representatives in the House of Commons. Thirdly, That the Votes of the Commons have the Force of a Law, without the King. Fourthly, That to take up Arms against the Representatives of the People, or the Parliament, was High-Treason. Fifthly, That the King Himself took up Arms against the Parliament, and therefore was guilty of all the Blood shed in the Civil War; and ought, by His own Blood, to expiate the fame: But the Or­dinance for the King's Trial being sent up [Page 340] to the Lords for their Concurrence, they Rejected it January the 2d, and Adjourned for 10 days; but first sent back that they would give Answer: Whereupon, the Commons search the Lords Journal-Book, and find these Votes: 1. To send an An­swer. 2. That their Lordships do not concur to the Declaration 3. That their Lordships Reject the Ordinance for Tryal of the King: But the Commons for all that go on, and Vote the Lords Dangerous; Order the King to be brought to London under a Guard, Read and Ingrossed the Ordinance for his Tryal on the 6th of Ja­nuary, and the Manner was referred to the Commissioners who were to Try Him; and, to that end, to Meet in the Painted Chamber on Munday, January the 9th. who Resolved, that Proclamation should be made in Westminster-Hall; that the Commissio­ners were to Sit again to Morrow, and that all those who had any thing to say a­gainst the King should be heard. In this manner, Mr. Denby, who was Sergeant at Arms to the Commissioners, Rode into the Hall with his Mace, and some other Offi­cers all bare, attended with Six Trumpets on Horseback, who Sounded in the midst of the Hall, the Drums of the Guard, in the mean time, Beating without in the Pallace-yard, at the Old Exchange, and in Cheapside; The Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of London, Petition'd the House of Commons for Justice against [Page 341] the King; to Settle the Votes, that the Supream Power was in them; and the City resolved to stand by them to the utmost: and because nothing should obstruct the in­tended Work, Hillary Term was Adjourn­ed for Fourteen days, and Proclamation made thereof in the Cities of London and Westminster, and other Market-Towns; but that this poor Prince might have some glimmering of hope, the Scots Parliament begun January 2d. understanding what was done at London, in reference to the King's Tryal, Dissent from the said pro­ceedings, and Direct some Papers, To William Lenthall Esquire, Speaker of the House of Commons: which the House took as an Affront and Denyal of their Autho­rity, and so thought not sit to Read them, but yet Voted to send Commissioners into Scotland, to preserve a Good Correspon­dence between both Nations: Several Mi­nisters, from their Pulpits, Declaimed also against the Proceedings against the King's Person; some of the Nobility offer'd them­selves Pledges in his behalf: and January 19, the Scottish Commissioners deliver'd some Papers, and a Declaration from the Parliament of Scotland, wherein they ex­press a dislike of the present Proceedings; and declare, That the Kingdom of Scot­land had an undoubted Interest in the King's Person, who was not deliver'd to the Eng­lish Commissioners at Newcastle for the Ru­ine of his Person, but for the more speedy [Page 342] Settlement of the Peace of his Kingdoms; That they extreamly Dissented, and De­clared against the Tryal of Him, in regard of the Great Miseries that were like to en­sue thereupon, and desired leave to make their Personal Addresses to Him. The like Papers were also Presented to the General, but all signify'd nothing; for the Commis­sioners for the Tryal proceeded to make all things in a readiness; and to that pur­pose Order'd, that the Sword and Mace, tho' they had the King's Arms thereon, should be brought into the Court at His Tryal, and the King to be brought from St. James's, where he was then a Prisoner, to Sir Robert Cotton's House at Westminster. They erected a Tribunal, called, The High Court of Justice, over which was ap­pointed One hundred and fifty Judges, at the upper end of Westminster-Hall, the Courts of Chancery and Kings-Bench, being ordered into one; and these Judges were impower'd to Convent, Hear, Judge, and Execute Charles Stuart King of England. All things being now fitted up, the King on Saturday the 20th. was brought from St. James, through the Park in a Chair to Whitehall, and from thence carried by Wa­ter under a Guard to Sir Robert Cotton's House at the back end of Westminster-Hall. the Judges in the mean time met in the Painted Chamber, attending upon their Pre­sident Serjeant Bradshaw in his Scarlet Robe, who had the Sword born before him by [Page 343] Col. Humphrey, the Mace by Serjeant Den­by, and twenty Men with Partizans for his Guard. When they came into the Court, the President sat him down in a Crimson Velvet Chair of State, fixed in the midst of the Court, with a Desk before him, and a Cushion of Crimson Velvet thereon; and the Seats on each side of him were Benches covered with Scarlet-cloth: And after si­lence made, the Great Gate of the Hall was set open for any to enter in; after which Col. Thompson was commanded to bring forth the Prisoner, who was condu­cted with twenty Partizans, and other Guards, and was by the Serjeant with his Mace received to the Bar, where was a Red Velvet Chair set for him. He looked sternly upon the Court, and up to the Gal­leries, then sat him down, but presently got up again, and looked downward on the Guard and multitude of Spectators, not shewing the least regard to the Court all the while; then was the Act of Parliament read over, for the Trial of Charles Stuart King of England, by the Clerk, who sat on the right side of the Table, covered with a Turky Carpet placed at the feet of the President, upon which lay the Sword, and Mace; and the several Names of the Judges in the Roll were called over, and Eighty answered to their Names. When that was over, then the King's Charge was brought, wherein he was accused in the Name of the People of England, of Trea­son, [Page 344] Tyranny, Murders, Rapines, &c. and more especially for levying War against the Parliament. And the President stood up and said, Sir, You have heard your Charge, containing such matters as appears in it; and in the close it is pray'd, that you answer to your Charge, which this Court expects. The King replied, By what Au­thority did they bring him to a Trial, who was their King, against the Publick Faith so lately given him, when he commenced a Treaty with both Houses of Parliament? Urged them to shew what Lawful Autho­rity they had to call him to an account, which if they did, he would readily an­swer, otherwise advised them to avert the Judgments that might hang over their heads for such their proceedings against him. The President rejoyned that he was called to an account by the People of Eng­land, by whose Election he was admitted King: The King here insists upon his inhe­rent birth-right, and that the Kingdom was Hereditary for above a thousand years; and that he stood more apparently for the Li­berty of the People of England by reject­ing an unlawful and arbitrary Authority, than the Judges or any other whatsoever did by asserting of it; That no Lords ap­pear'd there, who to constitute a Parlia­ment should have been present, and some King also; but that neither the one nor the other, nor both the Houses of Parliament, nor any other Judicature on Earth had any [Page 345] Authority to call the King of England to account, much less, some certain Judges, chosen by his accusers, masked with the Authority of the Lower House, and the same proculcated. However he wills them again to produce their Authority, and he would not be wanting to his Defence, for as much as it was the same offence with him to acknowledge a Tyrannical Power as to resist a lawful one: But the President made answer, That he was not to question the Ju­risdiction of the Court, that they were sa­tisfied with their Authority, as it was up­on God's Authority and the Kingdom's, in doing of Justice, and that this was their present work. To which the King said, That it was not his own nor their appre­hensions neither, that ought to decide it, and so the President ordered the Prisoner to be taken into Custody, and then the Court adjourned till the Monday following, being the 22. of January, to the Painted Chamber, and from thence to the same place again, and the King was carried back in the same manner as before to St. James's. The Court accordingly met on Monday in the Painted Chamber, and there considering the King's Resolution to deny the Jurisdi­ction of the Court, or of that which did constitute it, of which debate they had no proper cognizance, nor could they being a derivative power which made them Judges, from which there was no Appeal; they therefore order, that if the King offer to [Page 346] dispute the same again, the President should tell him, That the Commons of England Assembled in Parliament, had constituted that Court, whose power might not be permitted to be disputed by him, and that if he refused to answer, it should be accoun­ted a Contumacy to the Court, that if he answered with a Salvo his pretended Prero­gative above the Court, he should be re­quired to give a Positive answer, yea or no, that he should not have a Copy of his Charge till he owned the Court, and decla­red his intentions to answer. This being concluded on, the King is again brought to the Bar in the same manner, where the So­licitor Cook moved that the Prisoner might make a positive answer, or that the Charge might be taken pro Confesso, and so the Court proceed to Justice; and the President did briefly repeat the passages of the last day, and commanded the King to answer to the Articles of Charge, unless he had rather hear the Capital Sentence given a­gainst him. But the King still persisted to Interrogate concerning their Authority; that he had weighty Reasons why he should not acknowledg this new form of Judica­ture; that they had no Law for it, and that they could not have an extraordinary Au­thority Delegated from the People, seeing they had not consulted so much as every tenth Man in that matter. But the Presi­dent put him in mind of his doom, and told him the Court was abundantly satisfied of [Page 347] their Authority; nor were they to hear any Reasons that should detract from their Power. And when the King urged to give in his Reasons in Writing, it would by no means be admitted; and so the President commanded the Prisoner to be taken away.

The third Days Trial, which was Tues­day, was in effect the same as the last men­tioned, in respect to the Court's demands, and the King's answer, so that the Court adjourned till next Morning at Ten of the Clock; but the Examination of Witnesses, and other intervening business prevented their then sitting, so that it was Saturday Morning January 27. before they assembled, and 68. of the Judges answered to their Names. As the King was brought into the Court the Soldiers cried for Justice and Ex­ecution; and the King desired to be heard a few words, and so goes on to shew how a sudden Judgment could not be soon recall­ed, &c. But the President magnified the Pa­tience the Court had had towards him, ad­vised him now at length to submit, other­wise he should hear the Sentence of Death resolved on by the Court against him; but he still refused to plead, and desired he might have liberty to say some things for the good of the People before both Houses; but the President said this would but delay and retard Justice. But the King answered, that he had not sought occasions of delay, else he would have made a more Elaborate contestation of the Cause, but that there [Page 348] could be no hurt in a delay of a day or two, rather than precipitate Judgment, which might lay the Nation under perpetual Mise­ries, and so desired to withdraw, and the Court to consider. The King was carried to Cotton-house, and the Judges withdrew to the Court of Wards, and in half an hour returned; and when the King insisted still that he might be first heard before his Par­liament, and not prevailing, the President went on and shewed how contumacious he had been; how hateful his Crimes were, and asserted the Parliamentary Authority, producing Examples both Domestick and Foreign, especially out of Scotland, where­in the People had punished their Kings, and then affirmed that the Power of the People of England was not less over their King: That the Guilt of this King was greater than of all others, as being one who accor­ding to Caligula's wish, had attempted to cut off the neck of the Kingdom, by wa­ging War against the Parliament; for all which he was in his Charge called Tyrant, Traytor, Murderer, and a Publick Enemy to the Commonwealth, and that it had been well if that any of those terms might have been spared. At which words the King said, How Sir; but the other went on, and argued that Rex est qui bene regit, Tyrannus qui populum opprimit, and so lodged Arbitrary Government on him which he sought to put upon the People; That his Treasons were his breach of trust to the [Page 349] Kingdom, as his Superior, and was there­fore called to an account, Minimus majorem in judicium vocat; That his Murders were many, as being guilty of the Blood shed in the War between him and his people, which could not be cleansed, but by the Blood of him, who shed that Blood; he wished him to have God before his Eyes, and called God to witness, that the Court came meerly out of the Conscience of their Duty to that place and imployment, which they were resolved to effect, and called for God's assistance in his Execution. Here the King made a motion to speak, but was told his time was now past, and his Sentence was coming on, which the President comman­ded to be read under this form:

Whereas the Commons of England in Par­liament, have appointed them an High Court of Justice for the Trial of Charles Stuart King of England, before whom he had been three times Convented, and at the first time a Charge of High Treason, and other Crimes and Mis­demeanors was read in the behalf of the King­dom of England, &c. as in the Charge, which was read throughout; to which Charge he the said Charles Stuart was required to give his Answer, but he refused so to do; and so exprest several passages at his Trial, in refusing to answer; for all which Treasons and Crimes this Court doth adjudge that the said Charles Stuart, as a Tyrant, Traytor, Murderer, and Publick Enemy, shall be put to death by sever­ing his Head from his Body.

[Page 350]And then the President said, the Sen­tence now read and published is the Act, Sentence, Judgment and Resolution of the whole Court; to which the Members of the Court stood up and assented, by hold­ing up their Hands. Then the King was taken away, and the Court broke up. As the King was lead along some of the Mobb carried it very rudely and unchristi­anly towards him; and that Night which was Saturday, January 27. he was Lodged in Whitehall, next day the Bishop of Lon­don Preached before him in his Chamber; and the same day the President, and all the Members of the High Court of Justice fast­ed in the Chappel at Whitehall. On Monday Morning he was conveyed to St. James's, and in the mean time Sir Hardress Waller, Colonel Harrison, Colonel Dean, Commis­sary General Ireton, and Col. Oaks were to consider of the time and place for Executi­on; and the President and Judges met on Monday Morning, Jan. 29. in the Painted Chamber, who together with the Committee resolved that the open Street before White­hall was the fittest place; that the King should be there Executed on tho next day between Ten and Two a Clock upon a Scaffold covered with Black. The King who was now apprehensive of the approach of his fatal end, exprest his desires by a Member of the Army; That in regard Sen­tence of Death was past upon him, and that the time of Execution might be near, [Page 351] that he might see his Children, and so re­ceive the Sacrament, and to prepare him­self for Death, and that the Bishop of London might pray with him in private in his Chamber; all which was granted him.

When the fatal day appear'd, which was Tuesday, Jan. 30. about Ten of the Clock in the Forenoon, he was called upon to come forth from St. James Palace, now his Prison, and was Conducted on Foot over the Park to Whitehall, Guarded with a Re­giment of Foot; part whereof marched before, the rest behind, with Colours fly­ing, and Drums beating, his private Guard of Partizans being next him; Dr. Juxton Bishop of London on the one side, and Col. Tomlison on the other; they went up by the Stairs to the Park Gallery, and so into his Cabinet-Chamber, where he continued at his Devotion, and refused to Dine; only about Twelve-a-Clock he Eat a Bit of Bread, and drank a Glass of Claret. From thence he was conveyed into the Banquet­ting-House, and the Great Window Enlar­ged, out of which he ascended the Scaffold, the Rails whereof were hung round, and the Floor covered with Black, with the Block and Axe set in the middle, and the Executioners wearing Vizzards standing by: He looked round about upon the Peo­ple, who were kept a considerable distance off by the thick Guards and Troops of Horse that beset the Scaffold, and turning [Page 352] to the Officers, and more particularly to Col. Tomlison, begun with what necessity there lay upon him to say somewhat, lest his silence might be made an argument of his guilt, and with a Protestation of his innocency in reference to any design he had to retrench the just Priviledges of Par­liament; yet acknowledged his punishment to be just from God, and instanced only in his giving way to the death of the Earl of Strafford; appealed to the Bishop of London, (who stood by) for his forwardness to for­give his Enemies, yet professed a great con­cernedness for the Weal of the Kingdom; shewed how the then Managers of the State were in the wrong to think to govern by the Sword, advised them to restore his Son to the Inheritance of his Ancestors, and the People to their Rights, and due Liberties, to the abrogating of which by the enormous power of the Sword, because he could by no means be induced, he was brought thither to undergo a Martyrdom for his People. Then he prayed, and be­ing minded by the Bishop to satisfie the Spectators as to his Religion; he said, that he had deposited the Testimony of his Faith with that holy Man, meaning the Bishop: That his Life and Profession had been well known, and that now he died in the Christian Faith according to the Pro­fession of the Church of England, as the same was left him by his Father of Blessed Memory: And then turning about to the [Page 353] Officers, and professing the hopes he had of his Salvation, he began to prepare for the Circumstances of Death. The Bishop put on his Night-cap, and uncloathed him to his Sky-coloured Sattin Wastcoat; he de­livered his George to the Bishop's hands, and charged him to remember to give the same to the Prince, and having prayed a­gain, he stooped down to the Block, and had his Head severed from his Body at one Blow about Two of the Clock in the Af­ternoon, the day aforesaid, in the year 1648. dying the same death as to kind as his Grandmother Mary Queen of Scots had done sixty two years, and eight days before at Fothringham Castle in Northamp­tonshire, and I think was no whit inferior to her in the misfortunes of his Life. And to note a few, his three Favourites, to wit, Buckingham, Laud and Strafford, undergo­ing a violent death, and the two latter falling by the Axe, as forerunners of his own destiny. And as to his own Personal errors; when Bristol was cowardly surren­dred by Fines, had he then marched to London, as he might have done very well, all had been his own, but loytering to no purpose at Gloucester, he was soon after well banged by the Earl of Essex. When he had worsted Essex in Cornwall, he neglected the like opportunity of getting to London. Guilty he was of the same oversight in not commanding the Duke of Newcastle to march Southwards toward the Metropolis [Page 354] of England, before the Scots entred the English Borders; and in not doing the like himself, after he had taken Leicester; for there was nothing then that could have hindred him to become Master of the City. The same ill success he had as to his Trea­ties about being restored: And in short, he was generally unfortunate in the World, in the esteem not only of his Enemies, but in some sort of his Friends too, for as the later were n'er pleased with his breach of Faith, so the former would say, he could never be fast enough bound; and the Blood that some years before dropt upon his Statue at Greenwich, and the falling off of the Silver Head of his Cane at his Trial, were inter­preted as dismal presages of his disastrous fate. His Head and Trunk after the Exe­cution were immediately put into a Coffin, and conveyed to the Lodgings in Whitehall, and there Embowelled, and from thence conveyed to St. James House and Coffined in Lead. About some fortnight after, the Duke of Lennox, Marquess of Hartford, Earl of Southampton, and Bishop of London, got leave to bury the Body, which they conducted to the Chappel at Windsor, and Interred it there in the Vault of Henry the Eight, with this Inscription only upon his Coffin, Charles King of England. And here­in he was more unhappy than his Grand­mother Mary, for whereas her Corpse were some years after her death taken up by her Son King James, and Reposited with all the [Page 355] Funeral Pomp that could be, in the Chap­pel of King Henry the Seventh her Great Grand Father. This King's Remains, not­withstanding the Commons, had Voted in 1669, the Sum of 50000 l. for the Charge of taking it up, a Solemn Funeral had of it, and a Monument for it, yet lay neglected, as if it had been blasted by fate, King Charles the Second his Son, they said, forbidding of it. A Physician that made inspection in­to the dissection of the Body, related that nature had designed him above the most of mortal men for a long life, but Providence ordered it otherwise; for he was cut off in the Forty ninth year of his Age, being his Climacterical, and twenty fourth of his Reign; leaving six Children behind him, three Sons, Charles Prince of Wales, James Duke of York, and Henry Duke of Glouce­ster, whereof the two Elder were Exiles; and three Daughters, Mary Princess of Orange, Elizabeth a Virgin, who not long survived him, and Henrietta Maria born at Exeter.

Charles his Eldest Son,Charles Stuart II. assumed the Title of King upon his Father's Death, Jan. 30. 1648. who was then at the Hague, when he heard of his Father's disastrous fate, assumed the Title of King of England, &c. tho an Exile, and without any Kingdom to command. He was born at St. James's May 30. 1630. it was said a Star appeared over the place where he had been born, in broad day, which in those times was interpreted to prognosticate his [Page 356] happiness, but the Ecclipse of the Sun which happened presently after was no less a pre­sage of his future Calamities. There was little remarkable in him, or concerning him, till the year 1639, when the unhappy dis­aster of breaking his Arm befell him; and that not long after he was afflicted with a violent Feaver, accompanied with a little of the Jaundice; but having at length reco­vered his perfect health, and the fatal dif­ferences begun long before, but now daily increasing between the King his Father and the People, he accompanied him into the North of England; where he was a Spectator of that dismall Cloud, which tho small at its first gather­ing, yet was pregnant with that dreadful storm, which in a short time spread it self, over him, his Father, and three Nations: For going to take possession of Hull, as they thought, they were by Sir John Hotham denied Entrance, and forced to wait seve­ral hours at the Gate all in vain. From this time forward the War increasing between the King and Parliament, he was first spe­ctator of that successless Battle to his Fa­ther's Arms at Edgehill, staid some time af­ter at Oxford ▪ From thence returning to the Field, and the King's forces in the West, under the command of the Lord Hopton, of which the Prince was nominally General, being routed by General Fairfax, he was necessitated to retire to the Isle of Scilly, and from thence betook himself into France: [Page 357] To whom his Father, now depriv'd of Com­mand himself, sent a Commission of Gene­ralissimo of those few Royalists that survi­ved the late unhappy overthrows, and this brought him to the Isle of Guernsey; where he possest himself of some Vessels that lay there, and having joyned them to those he had brought with him out of France, he sailed from thence into the Downs, where he seized several rich Merchant-Ships, and ex­pected some Land-forces from Holland, rai­sed by the Prince of Orange for his Service. But alas, he was as unfortunate now in his Warlike attempts, as his Father had been before, and was still in his Treaties of Peace; for Poyer and Langhorn, who made a rising in Wales were soon beaten, so were the Surry, Essex and Kentish Forces, with­out any reinforcements from him as was designed; and when he Landed some for­ces for the relief of Deal-Castle, they were vanquished almost as soon as Landed. This with the taking of Colchester by Sir Thomas Fairfax, sent him back again to his Sister the Princess of Orange to the Hague. Here it was that he was first Entertain­ed with the horrible news of his Father's Tragical death, and then saluted by the name of King, but a forlorn Man, and with­out any Subjects to govern; for now the Rump Parliament ruled the Roast in Eng­land, and had assumed to themselves the Supream power of the Nation, by the name and title of the Commonwealth of [Page 358] England; but this procedure of theirs did not relish well with the Scotch Covenan­ters, and especially now they found, that those Persons in the English Parliament, that had been most forward in establishing the Solemn League and Covenant between both Nations, were not only laid aside, but clapt up into nasty PRISONS. Where­fore being willing to lay hold on any Twig; the Scots resolve not to put up the supposed injury tamely, but to try their Fortune with the Rump by Arms, and to that end agree to invite the King over to take Possession of his ancient Kingdom of Scotland, but yet tye him so by vertue of the Treaty with him, to take their Solemn League and Covenant, as a Testi­mony of his sorrow for his Father's Sins, and to banish all those out of his Court who would not take the Covenant, or bare Arms for his Father. But they could not have found a Plant (as Mr. Coke ob­serves) more unlikely to produce the Fruit of Repentance or to establish Presbytery than himself; however, over Shooes over Boots, prepare he does to waft himself over for Scotland. To be a King in fact, he desired above all other things, and in June 165O, landed at the Spey in the North, having scaped a scouring, for some of the Rump Ships lay in wait for him as he passed the Sea, and narrowly mist him. In some time after he was solemnly Crowned at Scone, but alass it was no [Page 359] long-liv'd Dignity, and he had but little Joy of his Crown; for Cromwel had entred Scotland with the English Army, and having beaten the Scots in several smaller Rencounters, did at last upon the 8 of September utterly overthrow the much more numerous Kirk Army at Dun­bar, commanded by old General Lesley, killing 3000 of them in the Battle and pur­suit, and taking 9000 Prisoners with all their Baggage and Ammunition, with above 200 Colours. To augment these Miseries, the King who was very squeamish in Religion, and could not submit to the rigid discipline of the Kirk, runs from Scone towards the High-lands, after whom ran Montgomery, promising, if he would return, the Kirk would remit part of the Discipline, and so he came to St. John's Town: But here was no lasting Tranquillity for him, for tho' in this time he raised a very numerous Army, yet the Kirkmen being beaten at Dunbar as aforesaid by the English, began to rail bitterly against those who had called the King in too hastily, before he had given true signs of Repentance, and they assumed the Kingly Authority so far, as to make such Generals of the Kirk Army as they thought sit. But Cromwel in the mean time prevails in his Conquests, and tho' Scotland were a cold Climate yet he made it too hot for the King and his Army to hold long there, and therefore he slips [Page 360] with them to England by the way of Car­lile, but was followed close at the heels by Lambert and Harrison, and soon after by Cromwel himself with the main Army. But he arrived at Worcester City with little opposition, and there Cromwel came up with him, where they joyned Battle, but as all his attempts before in his Fathers Cause had proved succesless, he met with no better Fortune now he fought in his own Cause, nor indeed hardly ever did in all his Life-time by Arms; for here his Army was utterly Routed by Cromwel, (that very day twelve Month, he had beaten the Scots at Dunbar) 3550 where­of were killed with Duke Hamilton, and General Forbes and 5000 taken Prisoners, of which number were the Earls of Rothes, Kanworth and Kelly, the Lords Sinclaer, and Mon [...]gomery, General of the Ordinance; and soon after David Lesley, who fought not or but little in the Battle, was Routed by Colonel Lilburn, and together with Lauderdale, the Lords Kenmoure and Middleton taken Prisoners.

The poor King seeing all now irrecove­rably lost, about six in the Evening march­ed out at St Martin's Gate, leaving all that was valuable but his Life behind him, as a prey to the Enemy; and being come to a place called Barbon-Bridge, he con­sults with the few followers he had with him, what to do, among whom it was resolved he should endeavour to get back [Page 361] into Scotland, and one Walker, who be­longed to the Lord Talbots Troop was made choise of to be his Guide North­ward: But Walker being at a loss when he came to Kinver-Heath and not know­ing which way to go, the King consulted with the Lords yet about him, whither he might repair with most safety to take a few hours rest, in regard he found him­self quite worn out and spent; where­upon the Earl of Derby advised him to go to Bosoobel, where in his Flight from Wiggan to Worcester, he met with a trusty Person, and where there was great con­veniency of Concealment. This being agreed to, Mr. Gifford who knew the way best, was appointed to conduct him thither; but he proposing to carry him first to White-Ladies, a house about half a mile from Boscobel, where he might repose him­self a while, and then take farther Re­solutions, this was consented to, and thither they immediately repaired, and were readily entertained by George Pendrel the youngest of the five Brethren. By this time the King found himself extream hungry and very much tired with his long and hasty march, and here it was that he rubbed his hands and face with the foot of the Chimney, had the locks of his hair dis­orderly cut off, and was stripped of his blew Ribbon, buff C [...]at and other Princely Ornaments, which to prevent a discovery were buryed under Ground, and his Case [Page 362] now was not imparallell to his Great Ance­stor Robert Bruce King of Scotland, who for fear of Edward I. King of England, was forced to sculk in the High-Lands, and there to live for a time more like a Brute Beast then a Man, much less a Prince, as we have noted towards the beginning of this History. The Kings fine Shirt was also exchanged for a course Canvass one borrowed of one Martin, and a suit of Cloaths answerable to it, of Richard Pendrells put on by him; and then he assumes the name and imployment of a Woodman, and so with Richard, with a Bill in his hand he went into the Wood, while the other Brothers went out to scout. It was not above an hour after his going into the Wood before a Troop of the Parliaments Horse came to White-Ladies to look after him; But being told by the Towns-men that a Party of Horse had been there about three hours before, but hasted away, they made no stay but went upon the pursuit; which being told to the King he would not adventure to come into the house out of the Wood all day, where he was miserably wet with the heavy Rain that fell, and where about noon Richard's Sister brought him a mess of Milk, mixt with Eggs and Sugar, in a black earthen Dish, and the King guessing it to be Milk and Apples, said he loved it very well. In the Evening he left the Wood, and with the brothers and Francis [Page 363] Yates their Brother-in-law went to Richard Pendrell's House, under the name of one William Jones a Wood-Cutter, newly come thither for Work, where he had Bacon and Eggs for supper. When he had re­fresh'd himself a little, he departed that night to Mr. Wolfs at Madeley with Richard only in his Company, the rest of the brethren taking their leave of him; and Yates supposing he wanted Money offered him thirty Shillings, which was all he had, of which the King took only Ten. As they Journyed on towards the foresaid place he met with an odd en­counter, which put them into no small fright at a place called Eveling-Mill; for the Miller, who, as it afterward appear'd, was a Royalist, had then in his House, some Considerable Persons of the Kings Army, that had sheltered themselves there in their Flight from Worcester, and being allarmed by Richard's suffering a gate to clap, through which he passed, and boldly demanding who was there; Richard fearing he had pursued them, quited the way in great hast, and waded through a little Brook, and the King thereupon doing the like, followed him only by the ratling of his leathern Breeches, by which means they escaped the Miller, who not knowing but they were Enemies, was as glad to be rid of them, as they were to shun him.

When they came to Mr. Wolf's House, the Family was a bed, but upon Richard's [Page 364] kn [...]ng, the Daughter came to the door and they were admitted in; and some Re­freshment the King had here, but the fear of his Enemies would not let him rest in this House, and so he retired to an adjacent Barn as to a place less lyable to the danger of a surprize. During his stay there, he consulted with Mr. Wolf about his going into Wales, but finding upon enquiry the strict guard that was kept every where, he was advised to retire to Boscobel house, as the most re­tired place in all those parts, which he did the night following; But in the mean time his Hands and Face not appearing sufficient­ly discoloured, Wolf bathed them in a de­coction of Wallnut leaves, as the readiest expedient for that purpose. When Richard and he came to Boscobel, which was about three next morning, the King was left in the Wood, while Richard went in to see if there were any Soldiers there, and finding none but Collonel Careless, who was fled thither from Worcester Fight for shelter, he tells him of the Kings arrival, who went immediately out to conduct him in; where he fed heartily on Coarse Bread and Cheese, and a Possit, which as a rarity was made by William Pendrell's Wife, of thin Milk and small Beer; and after Supper, his feet be­ing extream dirty and very much gall'd with travelling, he was forced to wash them, and for want of Shooes to wear, whilst his own were dryed, they were necessitated to put hot embers into them, to dry them a little [Page 365] whilst his feet were a washing. After the King had refrest himself, he was advised by the Collonel to retire to the Wood again as the safest place, where he ascended to­gether with the Collonel into an Oak, thence-forward called the Royal-Oak, where he stayd most part of the day; but in the Evening he returned back into the House, and was conducted by William to the same place where the Earl of Derby had former­ly been secured, which he liked so well, that he resolved during his stay there to trust to it only, and to go no more into the Oak.

But one of the Pendrels going on the Sa­turday following to Shefnall, he met with one of the Parliament Colonels, who was in search for the King, and who coming to understand where Pendrell lived, examined him strictly about it, laying before him the reward of a Thousand Pounds, if he made a Discovery, and also the Penalty of Concealing the King, which was Death without Mercy; all which Pendrell, upon his return at Night, acquainted the King with, whereat he was not a little terrified. But the Collonel and Pendrell, upon their Assurance of his Safety, did a little com­fort him; and that night the King Supped upon no common dainty, which was a dish of Chickens, prepared by Dame Joan (as he called her) Richard's Wife: After Sup­per, when a little Bed was put into the Se­cret place where the King was to lye, the Collonel asked him, What he would please [Page 366] to have for Dinner next day being Sunday; He told him, he could wish he had a little Mutton; but this they found hard to come by, in that it was not advisable for to have any bought in the Market, because Pendrell's Neighbours knew he was not used to provide any such Meat for his own eat­ing. But the Collonel next Morning early would go to Stanton's Sheep-Coat, and ha­ving chosen out a good Sheep, stuck him with his Dagger, and order'd William Pen­drell to carry him home; where being flead and quarter'd, and a Leg brought to the King, he called for a Knife and a Tren­chard, and having cut some of it into Col­lops, called for a Frying-pan, and Cooked some of them himself; the Collonel in the mean time, by making the Fire, and turn­ing the Collops in the Pan, officiating as Under-Cook. But being inform'd by John Pendrell, that the Lord VVilmot was at Mr. VVhitegraves at Mosle, he sent John thither to let him know he was safe, and would be there that Night; but when John came, he found VVilmot was gone to Bentley; howe­ver he acquainted Mr. VVhitegrave and Mr. Huddleston that the King was at Boscobell, where he had but very ill Accommodati­on. Whereupon they went with him to Bentley, and the Lord VVilmot sent John back to acquaint the King with his resolu­tion to meet Him that Night about Twelve or One of the Clock, in a little Grove of Trees, not far from VVhitegraves; to which [Page 367] end the King prepared to set forth: But having not yet recover'd his late foot Jour­ney to Madley, it was concluded he should Ride upon Humphrey's Mill-horse, a sorry Jade, and a Saddle with other Accoutre­ments answerable, and was conducted thi­ther by the Five Brothers, four whereof were only Scouts, while the fifth attended upon His Person. When they were come to Penford-Mill, his Guides desir'd him to a­light, and walk the remainder of the way on foot, which was about two Miles, by reason the Foot-way was the safest: Where­upon Humphrey and George returning with the Horse, the rest waited on him to his Journeys end, where, when they were ar­riv'd, the King was conducted by Huddle­ston to VVhitegrave's House; the Lord VVil­mot being gone thither before him, in re­gard he staid somewhat longer then his time; where, having viewed the Secret Place, wherein he was to be conceal'd, he went into VVilmot's Chamber, and sitting down upon the Bed-side, his Nose fell a Bleeding, which made him pluck out of his pocket an Handerchief, which was both very coarse and dirty, but suitable to the rest of his Apparel: For he wore a Lea­thern Doublet, a pair of Green Breeches, and a Jump Coat of the same, a pair of his own Stockins, with their Tops cut off, be­cause they were Embroyder'd, a pair of Shooes cut and slash'd to give ease to his Feet, an old gray greasy Hat, without a Li­ning; [Page 368] his Face and Hands being answera­ble thereunto, made of a rusty Complexi­on, by the help of the Walnut-leaves. Hud­dleston observing that his Shirt, which was very coarse, was troublesome to him, and hinder'd him to rest, he furnish'd him with a better; and plucking off his Shooes and Stockings, and carefully drying his Feet, he found that some body had innocently put White Paper betwixt his Feet and his Stockings, which, with his Travelling on Foot from Penford-Mill to the House, was so roll'd together, that it served rather to increase, than asswage the former soreness of his Feet. But not thinking it conveni­ent to tarry there long, he sent John Pen­drel to Collonel Lane to Bentley, to desire him to convey the Lord VVilmot's Horses thither that Night, about 12 of the Clock, in order to his putting in execution the Re­solution he had taken, of going Westward, under the Protection of a Pass Mrs. Jane Lane had procured for her Self and her Man to Bristol, supposing, that the Enemy would, in all probability, Pursue him North­ward, without entertaining any suspicion of his going into the West. Lane brought the Horses according to Order, and so con­vey'd the King to his House at Bentley, from whence, in pursuance to his Resoluti­ons, he Rid before Mrs. Lane to Bristol, Wil­mot attending him at a distance; but find­ing himself somewhat incommoded with his Cloak, he complained to his supposed [Page 369] Mistress, that it wearied him; which made her desire Mr. Lastell her Father, who also Rode along with them, to carry it for him. But they had not Rid far, before she met with her Brother-in-Law, who ask'd her, If her Father must carry her Man's Cloak; to which she made Answer, That it was so big, that it often endanger'd the throwing her down, else she would not have been so uncivil. But they were no sooner got out of this danger, then they fell into a far greater; for being to pass through a Town, where a Troop of the Enemies Horse was drawn up, as if on purpose to oppose their passage, the King was put into an horrible Fright; but the Captain thinking no other­wise of them then honest Travellers, pro­ved very Civil, and Commanded his Troop to open to the Right and Left, and permitted them quietly to pass forward; being come to a Gentleman's House at Leigh, he met with a double Rencounter, one whereof, tho' he were surrounded with so many Mis­fortunes, made him Smile at the conceit of it, as much as the other Terrifyed him with the Apprehensions of the Danger he might be in: Being there left in the Kitch­ing, under the Notion of a Serving-Man, the Maid happening to enter into some Dis­course with him, enquired where he was Born? What Trade he was? How long he had lived with Mrs. Lane? and several other the like Questions suitable to a Kitch­ing Wench's Curiosity; to which he made [Page 370] Answer, He was Born at Brumingham, was a Nailor's Son, and had lived with Mrs. Lane about a Twelve Month. But the Jack being down, she desired him to wind it up; He being unskilful therein, went the wrong way to work, and was like to have spoiled the Jack; whereupon the Maid highly offended, vented her Passion in Bil­linsgate-Language against him, asking him, Where he was Bred? and saying he was the most Ignorant Fellow she ever saw in her life, and much more to the same pur­pose, which made him withdraw out of the Room Smilingly: But the King find­ing the Gentleman's House to be a place of great resort, to prevent a discovery, feign­ed himself sick of an Ague, and so kept his Chamber all day, and came down only at nights, and it being the Nature of that Di­stemper to occasion Thirst, that his pre­tence might seem real, he sometimes desi­red the Butler to give him a Glass of Wine; who not only Gratified him therein, but did one Evening, when he found him be­low, invite him into the Cellar, and there forc'd him to drink two or three Healths, one to His Majesty, another to His Mo­ther, &c. but at length, by some thing he discover'd in him, he began to suspect him to be the King, notwithstanding his dis­guise; and thereupon falling on his knees, begged his Pardon, and protested he would be faithful to him in whatever he should command him, of which (tho' he was ter­ribly [Page 371] surpriz'd) he took little or no no­tice; but having drank up his Wine went his way: Whereupon the Butler's suspiti­on increasing, he went up and asked Mr. Lastel, How long he had had that Servant? who being angry at the Butler's Inquisitive­ness, demanded of him the Reason of it? upon which the Butler whisper'd him in the Ear, and told him, He believed him to be the King.

This Passage made the King very unea­sie, and therefore he resolved to hasten his going to Sea as soon as possible; but tho' there lay a little Bark there, that was look­ed upon very fit for the purpose, yet the Master could not be prevail'd upon to Transport a Single Person, which did not a little perplex him, and made him take another resolution of going farther West­ward, where he was concealed at a Gen­tleman's House about eight or ten days, in which time Preparation was made for his Passage into France. But coming to the place where the Vessel was provided, he chanced to Dine with a Collonel of the Parliaments Army; and therefore fearing his Embarking▪ singly might work some suspition in him, he chose rather to defer it, and so returned to the place whence he came, and from thence, after three weeks longer concealment, was conveyed through By-ways, to a Gentleman's House in Sussex; where having concealed himself till the Search for him was pretty well [Page 372] over, he was, at last, provided of a small Ship, that took Him in at Shoreham, a lit­tle Creeck in that County, and set him on Shore near Havre de Grace in Normandy, from whence he went to Diep, and so to the French Court, and from whence he stirred up the Dutch, by the means of his Sister the Princess of Orange, to make War upon the Rump in his Favour. But all that he got by it was, an entire disappointment of his hopes that way, and they to be so beaten, as they were never before nor after by the English Fleet. Oliver Cromwel sometime after assuming the Supream Power by the Title of Protector, he and Mazarine grew so gra­cious one with another, that France began now to be too hot to hold King Charles; so as, he was necessitated to retire thence to the Elector of Cologn, and afterwards into the Spanish Netherlands; where he order­ed the English, Scots, and Irish, in those parts, which amounted to between four and five thousand Men to joyn the Spani­ards to attempt the relief of Dunkirk, then besieged by the French and English. But herein he was as fatal in his Arms as he had been all along before; for the Spanish Army were utterly routed, and this de­feat broke his whole design, so that he ne­ver after made use of Arms to recover his Inheritance, but retired to Bruges; where he stay'd to see the event of things. The death of Oliver Cromwell, together with the many changes of Government that hap­pened [Page 373] thereupon in England, gave new life to his hope, and made him go in person to the Pyrenaean Treaty to promote his Inte­rest; from whence he returned through France to Bruxells. But coming to under­stand that Sir George Booth, and the Che­shire Men were supprest by Lambert, it did not a little damp his hopes, and made him return again to Bruxells, from about St. Maio's, where he privately lay in readiness to take Shipping for England, upon the first good event of Sir George and others undertakings for him. But his Crown was not to be recovered by War; how then came he to be restored? A grand step to­wards it was the Rump Parliament's Jea­lousie of Monk, and his Jealousie of them again; But what contributed most to it was the unsetled state of the Nation, under the many Vicissitudes of Government that had been introduced since the death of the King his Father, which made the Peo­ple very uneasie, and long for a Settlement upon any terms; and therefore the Con­vention when they met in order to it on April 25. 1660. did hand overhead with­out any Preliminaries of asserting the Rights and Liberties of the English, Charles Stuart II. Restored to his Do­minions, An. 166 [...]. so ma­nifestly violated by his Father and Grand­father, restore him without any contradi­ction; which did not a little contribute to the succeeding uneasiness of his Reign, as well as the Nations trouble. But restored he was, as aforesaid; and on May 25. [Page 374] following Landed at Dover, and was recei­ved every where with utmost Demonstra­tions of Joy. About October following came over the Queen-Mother, seemingly to Treat about a Marriage between Mounsieur of France and her fair Daughter Henrietta Maria; But it's like the Marriage between the King and the Infanta of Portugal was no less designed, which was after Consumma­ted, and wherein he was as unhappy in re­spect to Procreation by her, as he was fruit­ful in what ground soever else he sowed his seed, which he was Prodigal enough of. But there was yet somewhat else of far more dangerous consequence to poor Eng­land, and more dishonourable to the King, that brought the Queen-Mother over, and that was the Sale of Dunkirk to the French, whose Agent she was in that fine spot of work. If the King's Arms, whilst an Ex­ile, in conjunction with the Spaniards, were so unsuccessful in the relief of Dunkirk, then Besieged by the joint force of English and French; he was much more unhappy in the Sale of it afterward for 400000 l. (where­of one moiety was detained for the Portion of Henrietta Maria his Sister) and not to the Spaniards, who were kind to him in his adverse Fortunes, and had most right to it; but to the French, who had done all they could by their Embassador Bourdeux to hinder his Restoration, and on whose side the Ballance then lay; which it had been his business to have kept even as his Prede­cessors [Page 375] the Kings of England were wont to do, and particularly Henry 8. and Queen Elizabeth: This action I think was us un­parallel'd as any can be found in our Eng­lish Annals. It was indeed a Charge against Mary Queen of Scots, that she would have transferred her Right of Succession to the English Crown to the then King of Spain Philip 2. but that if true, was giving away what was not in her power to dispose of; and much such another Donation as that of the Pope's to the Emperor Charles, of the Kingdom of Mexico, tho with a different fate to both Nations; but here was neither Donation, force, nor any visible necessity, but a voluntary act in King Charles to the inestimable damage of England, as has been but too sensibly felt to this very day.

You must note that the gazing World stood a little while amazed at the strange Revolution in England by the King's easie and pacifick Restoration, and with what transports of Joy he was received by the Nation, then in a most Warlike posture, and as much dreaded by our Neighbours, and particularly by the French, who had formed designs for an Universal Monarchy: But now they were put to a stand to see what such a mighty power, and apparent­ly lasting Settlement in England would pro­duce; yet finding at length that here all thoughts of Military glory and extention of Dominion seemed wholly to be laid a­side, and all the severity of the preceding [Page 376] times, daily degenerate to the Luxuries of an Effeminate Reign; they began to reas­sume their former design, and to prosecute the foundation Cardinal Richlieu had laid for them. But that they might make sure work on't, and see that they made a true judgment of the English affairs, they resol­ved to try such an Experiment as would throughly decide the matter, and what must that be but overtures for the buying of Dunkirk; which succeeding as aforesaid, according to their wishes, raised their hopes higher than ever of attaining their ends. And because they knew well enough that the English were a powerful People by Sea, and that while they retained the Soveraign­ty of it, it would be a hard rub in their way, they joyn their strength with the Dutch to dispute the Dominion of it with us; but the Dutch were as unfortunate in their Allyance in the first Dutch War, as the English were in the second, when they joyned with them against the Dutch; for excepting the time that the English Fleet was divided in the first War, and that base business of burning the Ships at Chatham, so much to the King and Nations disho­nour; the Dutch came by the worst of it in all the rest of the Engagements; and it was much the same luck the English had by their Conjunction in the second War, the French both times standing aloof as look­ing on, and no doubt laughing in their sleeves, to see the two most Potent Nati­ons [Page 377] in the World by Sea, weaken and de­stroy one anothe whilst they in the mean time not only saved their own stake, but learned how to fight, and doubted not but in time to run away with the prey from both of them.

The People of England were no more satisfied before with their imaginary happi­ness in the King's Restoration; but they were now, upon the ill management of Affairs, the much Treasure that had been spent to so little purpose, and more espe­cially upon our Conjunction with the French, to the manifest hazard of the Pro­testant Religion, as well as the Civil Rights of Europe, as much uneasie and suspitious of the Court-proceedings: And it did not a little incense them that the French made such a Progress in Flanders, and got all by Land, while we got nothing but Blows at Sea; and therefore the House of Commons on the 31. of October 1673. Voted that considering the present State of the Nati­tion, they would not take into further Consideration, any Aids or Charges upon the Subject, except it did appear that the obstinacy of the Dutch did render it neces­sary, nor before the Kingdom should be effectually secured from Popery and Popish Counsels, and other Grievances redressed: which procedure thunder-struck the King and his Frenchified Council, so as that a Peace with the Dutch was quickly huddled up; and so he then set up for a Mediator [Page 378] of Peace between the rest, and the Treaty spun out to a very great length at Nime­guen; and was at last concluded after some years Conferences without King Charles consent by Beverning the Dutch Agent; which spared him a labour of entring into an actual War with Franee, as the Parlia­ment would have had him; and to which he was as unwilling as he had been before for­ward in his engaging against the Dutch, a Protestant State. The remainder of his suc­ceeding Reign was as uneasie to himself and to the Nation, upon the account first of the Popish Plot, the many endeavours to stiffle it, the Bill of Exclusion, and the Di­vision of the Nation into Whig and Torry hereupon; then that called the Presbyterian Plot, both Plots they said against his life, (which if true, he was the more unhappy) for which last the Noble Lord Russel suffer­ed, and the Great Earl of Essex had his Throat Barbarously cut in the Tower of London the King's Prison, and King Charles had the unhappiness to be there that day, where he had not been hardly in twenty years before. And last of all the forfeiture and seizure of Charters (which tho carried on with great fury in his Reign, that there­by he might have a Parliament of his own choosing, as Cromwell had, and so do what he pleased) yet he did not live to compleat his designs.

Tho' the Censures upon the manner of his Death are various, yet most are agreed [Page 379] (says the Author of the Introduction to King Charles II. Character) there was some fraud in it, some ascribing it to the in­treagues of France, who as they Undid his Father by a Wife, Ruined the Son by a Mistress; and therefore alleadge that the French King being weary of feeding him with Pensions, and dreading his natural Parts, if upon any disgust he should come to unite with his Parliaments against France; he thought it his Interest to take him off, and make way for a Successor, who as he made open profession of his own Religion, would be more pliable to his dictates: Then as touching the method of effecting it, they say, that the Dutchess of P. who bewitched him with her Amours, and had not only drained the substance of his Body, but likewise the substance of his Purse; either of which being once accomplished, the Love of a St— [...]t to her Paramour vanishes, so that having a mind to change Gallants, or seeing no more hopes of former advantages, she gave him such Pro­vocatives as made him act beyond his na­tural Strength, and threw him into those Apoplectick Fits which carryed him off: There are others who ascribe his Death to the Romish Faction, who being angry at his having so often deceived them, and im­patient till they came to a tryal of skill for establishing their Religion, while Lewis XIV. was in the height of his Power and Glory, did therefore administer the fatal [Page 380] Dose, which sent King Charles II. a Pack­ing, and brought his Brother to the Throne▪ under whose auspicious Conduct, they made no question of restoring the Church of Rome to the full possession of all she had former­ly enjoy'd in these three Kingdoms.

It's certain there were some accidents fell out some time before the King's Death, that raised some Jealousy in the breast of the Romanists; who thought by that, he would, upon the presenting of the first op­portunity face about, as they found by ex­perience he had more then once done, and fall in with the Interest of a Party, he now for some years, by their instigation had been endeavouring to destroy and root out of the World: And what rendred their suspiti­ons of him the more incurable, was, that a Pamphlet having been spread abroad, a little before Christmas, 1684. setting forth, that the Earl of Essex had not cut his own Throat, but had been Murdered by Russians set on by the Papists, &c. the King upon the hearing of it, should say, Well, I am resolved to examine Essex's Cause once more. And that he might meet with no obstructi­on in the way, he ordered the Duke his Brother to prepare to go for Scotland; which the other, whether smelling the de­sign, or that the train to blow the King up was already layd by him, absolutely re­fused to do: this occasioned high words between them; insomuch that the late M. of H. who was well known to be a [Page 381] great favourite, coming on the Sunday be­fore the King Dyed to wait upon him after Evening Service, he found him in his Closet alone under great concern of Mind, puffing after a more then ordinary rate, and looking pensive with his Face towards the ground, which the M. observing, made him stand still, till the King looking up, asked hastily, How now my Lord, How do you do? to which the M. answering, the better to see his Majesty well, and so­forth; the King returned again to his former posture; but at length, broke forth into these Words; My Lord will you be ingenious with we, and answer me one question? to which the Marquess replying, he would if he could: Then (said the King) I charge you upon your Alleagiance to tell me how I stand affected with the People of England: The M. after some pause answered, Sir, you have been always ranked among the merci­full and Clement Princes, and have given evident Testimonies of your being so upon various occasions; but I must tell your Ma­jesty, that of late your Government has been somewhat uneasy to your People: Well, said the King, one thing I am resolved on, I'll once more throw my self upon the People of England, and to that end will go this week into the City, and I'le call a Parliament at the Guild-Hall: the M. was somewhat sur­prized at these words, and said; Sir, If that be your Resolution, I pray God to bless it; but let me beg of your Majesty never to let [Page 382] it go out of your own Breast any further, til [...] you put it in Execution: Which when the King had promised to do, they parted. The King that night supped at P. Lodg­ings; where he seemed to be very merry, and in the close drunk a Dish of Chocolate, prepared by a Wise Lady, of which he complained again and again that it tasted hotter than ordinary; but he sipped it off, and thence went to his Rest. Next morning which was Munday he was taken very Ill▪ which, no doubt, was the effect of the last nights Entertainment, however they might call his Distemper; and so con­tinued till the Fryday following in extream Misery and Anguish, when he dyed, most People suspecting he had foul Play: And many that saw him during his Illness be­lieving it to be so, and particularly (says the Author of his Character) the most knowing and deserving of his Physitians Doctor Short, did not only believe him Poysoned, but thought himself so too, not long after, for having declared his opinion a little too bold­ly in the case. And as the manner and contrivance of this King's Death was the work of Darkness, so were his Funeral Ob­sequies; for never any King, who dyed possest of a Crown, was so obscurely and contemptibly Buryed, being hurryed in the dead of the Night to his Grave, as if his Corps had been to be arrested for Debt, and not so much as the Blew-Coat Boys to attend it.

[Page 383]King Charles was no sooner gone,James Stuart II. came to the Crown February 6. 1684/5. but James Duke of York, his only surviving Brother, ascends the English Throne by the style and Title of James II. And made open Profession immediately of the Popish Religion, for which some in his Brother's Reign were severely punished for but say­ing he was such, or so inclined; and not only so, but ordered his Brothers Dying in the Communion of the Church of Rome, and before his Death his receiving his Viaticum and other Ceremonies of that Church, and attested by Father Huddleston, to be printed, and also the Papers taken out of the King's strong Box, shewing; That however, he outwardly appeared o­therwise in his Life, yet in his Heart he was sincerely a true Roman Catholick. He made profession in his Speech to the Council the day of his Brother's Death, that he would preserve the Church and State of England as by Law Established, and as he would never depart from the just Rights and Prerogatives of the Crown, so he would never invade any Man's Property; but how ill he conformed himself here­unto, is but too manifestly known to all the World. For the very first Week he took both the Customs and the Excise granted only for his Brothers Life, be­fore they were given him by Parliament; And for the Church, I think no Man so Audacious as to deny the design of his whole, tho' blessed be God, short Reign, [Page 384] was to overthrow it by the introduction of his own Monkish Religion in the room of it: But if he was unhappy first in making such a Promise of adhering to both Church and State as then Established, contrary, no doubt, to the designs he had framed before of Ruining them; he was much more so in the methods he took to bring his ends about, which Ter­minated at last in a fatal Abdication, yet so as that he remains to this day naturally alive to be a living Monument and con­fessor of his own egregious folly: And the loss of the Button of his Scepter that day he was Crowned, which, as far as I could hear, was never found, was I remem­ber then, Interpreted by some, as a presage of no lasting connection between him and the Nation.

His petty success against the D. of Mon­mouth and his Adherents did not a little elate his spirits, which gave him an oppor­tunity to keep a standing Army, and put such Officers into it as were of his own stamp; and so being backt with this Ar­med Power, he proceeds bare-fac'd to dis­pence with the Laws by granting Liberty of Conscience to all that dissented from the Church of England; thinking hereby, and by a timely regulating of Corporations to gain such a Parliament as would quite re­peal them. And that in the mean time he might curb the Church and the Universi­ties, he puts his High Commission upon [Page 385] their Backs, thinking by it to worry them into a compliance. And because my Lord of London would not comply with his Ar­bitrary Proceedings, Jeffery's with this Po­pish Bull (I mean) the High Commission, roared him into a Suspension. And because the Fellows of Magdalen-Colledge would not (contrary to their Statutes and Oaths) choose a President to the King's mind, he first entertained them with a Dish of Bil­lingsgate, and then by virtue of the same Commission, sent them a Grazing into the Countries, to make room for his own Po­pish Seminaries, and Cut-throat Jesuits. But among all the actions of this King's Diminitive reign, That of sending the Bi­shops to the Tower, (not for refusing to take care to have the Declaration of In­dulgence read in their respective Diocesses) but for Petitioning of him in a regular and dutiful manner, wherein they gave their Reasons why they could not comply with his order, together with an Introduction of a Prince of Wales into the World, as a new Miracle to the Legend, the next day after their Commitment; was the rashest, most inconsiderate and madest thing he could be guilty of. Surely when he did this, he wanted some body to pray over the Poets wish for him:

For it was most apparent by the Univer­sal Joy expressed throughout the Nation at their Acquitment, how they resented their [Page 386] Commitment and Trial: And if the King did before decline in the affection of the People day by day; I may truly say, this was a concluding act, and lost him England. For now all the Eyes of the People are tur­ned from him towards Holland, where the Prince of Orange was Arming to come to their relief. The King would not at first be­lieve that the vast Preparations in Holland concerned him, tho the French King had given him notice of them the 26. of August before; but being at length convinced by the States Manifesto of the truth of the matter, he undid in one day all that he had been doing since his first coming to the Crown; as dissolving his Commission for Ecclesiastical Affairs, restoring the City of London to all its Ancient Franchises and Charters, as fully as before the Quo Wa­ranto, and giving order for the resetling the Expelled Fellows of Maudlin Colledge, in their places again: He made also great Preparations both by Sea and Land for to defend himself; but tho he be naturally still alive, and he above knows, who knows all things, what his end may be; yet all these Precautions and windings against the grain, were so far from preventing, that they did now but concur to precipitate his Civil death, which we shall now briefly relate unto you.

The Prince of Orange having on Novem­ber the Fifth Landed his Army in Torbay, he presently Published his Declaration, set­ting forth the Cause of his coming. Up­on [Page 387] which some of the Nobility and Gen­try joyned him, and others made Prepara­tions in the remoter parts to declare for him. King James upon the News of the Princes Landing, ordered his Army to march Westward with a resolution to follow in Person; But before he went, he thought it requisite to provide for the safety of his darling Prince of Wales, whom the Prince of Orange in his Manifesto spread about the Kingdom some days before, declared upon just and visible grounds, that both himself and all the Good People of England did vehemently suspect not to be born of the Queen's Body. Wherefore several Per­sons were summoned (who were present at the pretended birth) to declare the truth upon Oath, and to have the same registred in Chancery; but the King not daring to trust to the validity of these Affadavits, which the Nation had all the reason in the world to suspect, he ordered the Yonker to be sent away with a strong Guard to Portsmouth, that if things went ill he should be convey'd over into France.

In the mean time the Prince of Orange prospered in his Army, and advanced as far as Exeter, and was joyned, among mul­titudes of others that flocked in to him dai­ly out of the adjacent Countries, by the Lord Cornbury with Three Regiments along with him, which he carried off from the King's Army. About this time the Prince received also intelligence that the Lord Delamere had declared for him in [Page 388] Cheshire. King James being informed of all these things, was horribly dismayed, and uncertain whether he should go to the Army, or no: However at length he took up a resolution of going to Salisbury, where he began to bleed violently at the Nose, which together with the many ill adven­tures that befell him there, as his being forsaken by his own Daughter the Princess Anne, Prince George, the Duke of Grafton, the Lord Churchill, and many others who went over to the Prince then at Sherborn; all of them dangerous limbs to be lost by him, he returned Novemb. 26. in the Even­ing to London; where for an accumulation of the rest of his Misfortunes he received an Address from the Fleet for a Free Parlia­ment: So that thinking London, nay all England now too hot to hold him; he first sent his Queen and pretended Son into France, and quickly after followed himself. In order thereunto he put himself A­board a small Smach, Commanded by one Captain Saunders, but was forced for shelter to put into Eastwall, the Eastern part of the Isle of Sheppy, in order to the taking in of Ballast; where the Inhabitants of Feversham being abroad to pick up Jesuits, and other suspected persons, met this Vessel; and ha­ving seized it, found this wretched Prince attended only by Sir Edward Hales, and Mr. Labady therein; who not being at first known, were all of them but coarsly han­dled by the Mobil [...]ty, more particularly the King himself, who was rifled of what Gold [Page 389] and Jewels he had about him, and had his Clothes rent and torn in the searching of him.

When the Lords at London had notice of his being at Feversham, they sent some Per­sons to attend him, to move him to return; but they had in the mean time made their application to the Prince of Orange, for to assist them for the Security of the Protestant Religion; and sent some of their number with Four Aldermen, and Eight Common­ers to attend him at Henley. The King who was detained at Feversham, till the afore­said Orders came from London, did Decem­ber 15. remove to Rochester, and from thence next day being Sunday returned to Whitehall, attended once more like a King of England, with a Troop of Granadiers, and three Troops of the Life-guard. But it was only Pageant greatness, for a set of Boys only followed him through the City, and made some Huzza's, but the rest of the People silently looked on: And here he found the Popish Religious houses laid as flat to the ground as his own heart was now sunk deep in his body. Upon his Arrival at London, and finding there no ease, he desi­red the Prince that he might return to Rochester again, which being granted readi­ly, he took his final farewell of the City, and went to the foresaid place, where he staid till the 23. of December, when about One or Two in the Morning, he privately withdrew, taking only Mr. Sh [...]don and Delabady along with him, with whom he [Page 390] went to Dover, and there Embarkt in a Vessel that lay ready for his Transportati­on to France; So he went out like a snuff in England, but still retained some glimmering light in Scotland and Ireland, in the last of which he arrived in Person the March following. But his light in Scotland did not long burn, for the Convention there as well as in England, rejected him as the Violator of all their Rights; and Dundee falling by the Sword the July following 1689, together with the Surrender of Edenburg Castle, and other misfortunes quite extinguished his hopes there. But in Ireland he had a name to live as King, till about a year after, when his Army being totally routed at the Boyn by our brave King William, he made as much haste to get over into France, as if he had been to go to take possession of a Crown, instead of running away from one. Various Struggles he made still to recover a Regal Life, but he prosecuted his ends by such Villanous Methods and Instruments, and more especially by setting his Vile Assassins on Work to Murder the best of Kings, and bravest of Men, our Lawful and Rightful Sovereign King William III. as are not to be mention'd but with utmost Horror; But through the goodness of Heaven, they have met with as little success as the Practices have been foul and Clandestine; and so we leave him to him that made him, and withall wish him a far greater proportion of rest and happy Tranquillity in the future [Page 391] World, then he hath found of unrest and disquietude here; and a much speedier translation into that state, then the hast himself hath made to precipitate his own Abdicated fate.

The Abdicated Throne was filled up by the Advancement of a Prince and Princess to it,William of Nassaw III. and Mary Stu­art II. be­gan their Reigns Febr. 13. 1688/9. that England was n'er blest with the like before; one in Religion, and one in Interest and Affection with the Nation; our King Hero-like Fighting our Battels abroad, (and pray think it not a small thing, for England has not enjoy'd such a Blessing these Hundred and fifty years; and it has scarce ever been well with us, when our Kings did not go in and out before our People) and our Queen, as wisely and gently Swaying the Scepter at Home, to the Gladning of all our Hearts; and in all Her excellent Comportment, choosing to Rule in the Love and Affections, rather than the Fears of Her People. Here we promis'd our selves a lasting Tranquili­ty, and many happy days to come, under the benign influence of her Reign; but Alass, alass! our hopes quickly vanished, our Joys faded, our Hearts failed us for fear, and sable clouds of Despair overshad­dowed our whole Isle, by Her unexpected, by Her early, I say, by Her early, tho' natural Transition from a Corruptible to an Incorruptible Diadem: Her gain it was, but our loss; She tho' young, yet ripe for ineffable Joys above; And we, tho' long [Page 392] inur'd to Tryal, unripe for to sustain the loss of Her here below; And surely no Prince ever departed this Transitory Life, that was so unfeignedly lamented by his Subjects, as this incomparable Queen; as was apparent by our universal mourn­ful weeds without, a demonstration of the blackning sadness of our hearts within. The last she was, and incomparably the best, of the Stuarts that wore a Crown, and the Second of that number that went to Her Grave in Peace; as Robert II. who was the first of the Stuarts that ever was King, was the only other of the Kingly Race that did so: I know Mr. Coke says in his Character of King Charles II. That none of His Name hereafter was ever like to have a Stone to cover his Grave as King of England; but that I will not say, as not pretending to know what is laid up in the Womb of Futurity. But if you please, after all this Mournful Entertainment, I'll tell you a Story; ‘The Lyon, on a time, cal­led to the Sheep, and asked her, If his Breath smelt? she innocently said, Ay; which made him bite off her head for a Fool: then he called to the Wolf, and asked him, who reply'd, No: and his head he bit off for a Flatterer; last of all he put the same Question to the Fox; but the Fox truly for his part desired to be excused; for he had a Cold upon him, and could not Smell.’