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 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 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 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 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 Drumâ—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 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
Narration of Conjectures and Opinions but content my self to inform you as the observation of a person that 's my Friend who has for many Years been very critical and exact to pry into the Court-Conduct and has not had the least opportunity so to do that the Dauphiness at first had been so well received by the King that some malignant Spirits made it their publick Discourse But that a terward meeting with a colder entertainment when they saw it impossible to engage the Duke of Bavaria her Brother to the interest of the Crown of France the Princess her self became so sensible of the change that she grew sad and melancholy upon it till now at length Death it self has put a final period to her grief as I am forced to do to this letter through a pressing occasion who am My Lord Your Lordships most Humble and most devoted Serv. Paris April 28. 1690. N. S. LETTER XIV An exact Account of the number and strength of the French Fleet in 1690 with some intimations of a Conspiracy formed against the Government at the same time My Lord I Cannot but express my great Sorrow to find that many things that relate to the English Affairs and which should be managed in the Cabinet and only known by the Execution of them are so common in most Mens Mouths on this side There must be false Friends some where and who knows but they are the very Men who would possess the Government that the Enemy is not so formidable as is given out But I cannot believe your Lordship to be among the number of those incredulous ones tho' I am confident you 'l find it an hard task to convince those who should concern themselves of their imminent danger This Court seems long since fully to be satisfyed of the King's intention to go for Ireland and that much of his time and thoughts have been taken up for the work that lies before him there and therefore they are more busy here than ever in projecting methods and carrying on designs to allarm England in his absence I heartily wish your Out-works may be firm and strong they are likely to be attacked by a formidable power from without and I do not question but there are attempts formed within to second the same it being in a manner a common Discourse here And this I can firmly assure your Lordship of that several English Men who were some time ago about the Court and this City are all of a sudden disappeared but have since rendevouz'd at Brest with a full design to Embark on Board the Fleet which whatever Men may flatter themselves in England with is very formidable and very near ready to put out to Sea having its full complement of Mariners with an additional number of Landmen which are not sent there without some considerable design in view I am confident some men in England would laugh me to scorn should I tell them that the French Fleet is composed of Fourscore and two great Men of War Forty Frigats Thirty Fireships and Fifteen Gallies but your Lordship I hope will have a better Opinion of my Sincerity than to think I would any ways impose upon you That this formidable Fleet is designed for the English Coast is not doubted but as to any particular management all that ever I could learn is that an attempt will perhaps be made during the King's being in Ireland to raise a Mutiny and that in the Interim King James is to leave the command of his Army to Lauzun and Tirconnell and to hasten with all speed into England to favour which part of the French Fleet is to block up the River of Thames another part in conjunction with the Gallies are to land the Men on board somewhere in the West and such spare Arms as they have with them which is thought to be a great Number and when this is done they are to set sail for the Irish Coast to hinder King William and his Forces from returning Now my Lord I confess I do not think all these things practicable but there must be something more than ordinary in the Wind and you cannot be too cautious There are various other discourses that pass up and down continually concerning this grand Expedition which I shall not trouble your Lordship with as being meer conjectures and therefore I conclude only with subscribing my self as I am unfeignedly and so shall remain My Lord Your Lordships most Humble Faithful and Obedient Servant Paris June 2d 1690. N. S. LETTER XV. Of the late King James his arrival in France out of Ireland and of an uncertain report raised of King William's Death occasioning much ridiculous Mirth and Bon-fires at Paris c. My Lord THat the Arms of this Country have lately prevailed in two great conflicts the one by Sea and the other by Land is sufficiently known here by the publick rejoycings that have been made for both in all parts of the Kingdom and I cannot sufficiently express to your Lordship the Agony I have been under especially when I heard of the defeat by Sea but the arrival of the late King some days ago at St. Germans hath cheered up my drooping Spirits wonderfully again It s universally agreed here that King william has had the better of him though the defeat is minced very much at Court who thereupon foreseeing that it would be a matter of much enquiry and seem no less than a paradox among the people that he should quit Ireland so soon where his presence must have been absolutely necessary for the heartning of his foiled party they have given a reason for his retirement so ridiculous that let them believe it who will I think I shall not yet and I am sure your Lordship will not and that is that Monsieur Lauzun had in a manner constrained him to withdraw himself into France because his extraordinary courage caused him to expose himself like a common Soldier even to so much danger that it had like to have cost him his life And if the foresaid reason was so very ridiculous I am sure your Lordship will not think the rejoycings made in this City upon the groundless report of a Lacque of the Kings who got out of Ireland a few days after his Master to be less so For upon his Arrival he was pleased to acquaint the Court that Duke Schomberg was not only killed but King William dead also which good News as they call it was of that importance that it was glibly swallowed down and the proof thereof never enquired into and the News happening about Mid-night to come into the City the Commissaries immediately ran up and down the Streets knocking up the People and crying out to them Rise Rise make Bonfires So that in about an hours time all Paris was in a Blaze and nothing to be heard there but Hautboys Drums and Trumpets Not content with this the Rabble made the Effigies of King William and Queen Mary dragged them through
new Fortifications to each Place as he thinks necessary with an Assurance that no Money shall be wanting to that end Besides which Care of their Frontiers the Guards are ordered to be augmented with Ten Men in each Troop and such Care taken that they shall be the choicest Men of France Over and above this I am well assured that besides 20000 Recruits that are to be raised for the old Regiments there will be new Commissions very speedily issued out for a new Levy of 30000 Men Horse Foot and Dragoons And if the Power at Sea will be as formidable as some give out I am not without a strong Jealousie of some Attempt projected to be made against England it self though the French-Men have come off with so many Broken Bones in Ireland But of this I can say very little that is certain at present but I desire your Lordship to rest assured that no Endeavours shall be wanting to give you an Account also of their Marine Affairs in him who is proud to serve you and who am and always will be My Lord Your Honour 's most Humble and Obedient Servant Paris Nov. 19. 1691. N. S. POSTSCRIPT I had almost forgot to acquaint your Lordship that whatever Sentiments you may have in England of the Affairs of Savoy and the Siege of Montmelian they seem here so certain of reducing it as if it were already in their Hands LETTER XXIV Of King James's Declaration in the year 1692. and his Invitations to the English Nobility to come into France to be present at his Queen's Delivery c. My Lord I Have since my last to your Lordship been under so many Visicitudes of Fortune and among other Afflictions been visited with so long and severe a fit of Sickness that I cannot but perswade my self that your Honour has long ere now concluded me either Dead or turned Runagade and abandoned your Service the thoughts of which later hath afflicted me in a very sensible manner and doth now incite me with considerable hazzard to attempt the undeceiving of you hereby in that particular and withall to communicate what I have very lately learnt by the means of a Friend great at St. Germans of the posture of things in relation to England I hope you are not without considerable apprehensions of danger from hence and so have made timous preparations to ward off the blow and whatever the designs may be on your side its most certain that there have been positive resolutions taken to make a Descent upon the English Coast with a formidable power very speedily and the late King is resolved to be at the head of the Enterprize To that end I am assured all the Irish Troops and other French Forces which will be joined with them and which will make up a Body of Fifteen Thousand Men are to hold themselves ready to march upon the first notice towards the Coast of Normandy where they are to Rendevouz and where the late King designs to be with them with all the privacy imaginable and all this under a pretence of Guarding the Coasts against the insults of the English There are several Transport Ships already got together for this Expedition and the French Fleet under Monsieur Tourville is in a great forwardness and will be very formidable I am fully satisfyed though I can give your Lordship no particulars I am told also there is a Manifesto or Declaration a contriving and designed to be Published when things are ripe for it importing the late King's Resolutions to attempt the recovery of his Crown with what forces of his own Subjects he has with him in conjunction with as few Auxiliary Troops as may be that the English may take no Umbrage thereat Shewing the justness of his Cause the great reason his People have to receive him that they cannot be happy till his re-establishment promising mighty things for the Nation in respect to the settlement of Religion and grandeur of the English Monarchy and also a general Amnesty to all those that shall return quickly to their Duty excepting a few whose Names I could not yet learn I do not question my Lord but there has been much discourse in England concerning the late Queen's Pregnancy I can give no manner of account of it any otherwise than that the reality of it is not doubted here and that I am told it has been projected to direct a Letter to all the English Nobility to invite them to come into France and be present at the Delivery which is thought will be in less than two Months according to custom and to alledge they may do it with the greatest safety in regard the French King will give his Royal Word they shall return without Let or Molestation so soon as the said Queen shall be Delivered But as I do not expect to see your Lordship here on this occasion so I hope you may be very useful to keep our Countrymen that are on this side here still and disappoint their designs which none is more desirous of than My Lord Your Humble Servant St. Germains March â—1 1692. N. S. LETTER XXV The French Artifices to raise a mistrust in England of the Officers of the English Fleet in 1692. My Lord I do not question but your Lordship by this time is fully convinced of the intended Invasion as I hinted in my last And it may be you have already felt the effects in some measure of the evil Seeds that are sown amongst you by those that are in this Courts Interest in order to divide and make you jealous of one another in this ticklish juncture If your Lordship will give me leave to put in my sentiment hereupon I say were I to advise the Government and I have good grounds for what I say I would have it hold a watchful Eye over the affairs and motions of the Officers of the Fleet for there have been measures concerted to raise a mistrust and suspicion of the fidelity of the said Naval Officers and for ought I know are by this time near begun to be put in Execution They would have it here believed that several of them have a design to favour the late King's Descent and that others are disaffected and not hearty in the service Such a belief in England must be very pernicious if not fatal at present especially if once the Officers be so far imposed upon as to fear being discharged of their Imployments which apprehension seems to be the main design of England's Enemies to propagate But I must be abrupt as I have been short and beg your Lordship's Pardon who am in hast My Lord Your Humble Servant Paris April 17. 1692. N. S. LETTER XXVI Of the French magnifying their power at Sea after the fight in May 1692. c. and of the late Queen Mary's being brought to Bed at St. Germans of a Daughter My Lord THO' there is nothing more grievous to both Courts here than the late defeat of the French Fleet
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 knâ—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. 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 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 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 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
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 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 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 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 Animosâ—tâ—es aside for the present but this blowing 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
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 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 't is 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 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 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 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 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
his Army in Torbay he presently Published his Declaration setting forth the Cause of his coming Upon 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 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 Mobilâ—ty more particularly the King himself who was rifled of what Gold 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. Shâ—â—don and Delabady along with him with whom he 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 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 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 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 FINIS Robert Stuart by the Name of Robert II. tho' the first of the Stuarts was crowned King of Scotland Mar. 25. Anno Dom. 1370 Robert III. Alias John Stuart began his Reign An. Dom. 1390. James Stuart I. began his Reign actually Anno 1423. having been a Prisoner in England almost eighteen Years James Stuart II began his Reign March 27. 1437. James Stuart III. began his Reign Anno 1460. James Stuart IV. began his Reign An. 1488. James Stuart V. began his Reign Feb. 14th 1513. James Stuart I. began his Reign over Great-Britain Mar. 24. 1602. †Charles Stuart I. began His Reign over Great Britain March 27 th 1625. Charles Stuart II. assumed the Title of King upon his Father's Death Jan. 30. 1648. Charles Stuart II. Restored to his Dominions An. 166â— James Stuart II. came to the Crown February 6. 1684 5. William of Nassaw III. and Mary Stuart II. began their Reigns Febr. 13. 1688 9.