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 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 See Melvill's Memoirs Cardinal Beaton who t is 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 't was 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 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 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 sprâ—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 â—hat things for a time seemed to hang in â—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 â—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 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
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 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 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 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 't was 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 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 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
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 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 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 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 Monâ—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 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 Câ—at and other Princely Ornaments which to prevent a discovery were buryed under Ground and his Case 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
less of them in proportion to the Troops of his own Subjects and this after his full re-settlement on the Throne And not only so but shall deliver up Dover Castle Plymouth and Portsmouth to be Garrisoned by French Soldiers as cautionary Towns for the security of performance Seventhly That in regard of the Situation of the Irish Ports and their conveniency for the French Fleets as also in consideration of the agreement of the Irish with the People of France in Religion He shall after his full restoration to the English and Scotch Kingdoms be obliged to give Ireland to the French King in full compensation of all the Moneys he has already expended or shall expend further in his Quarrel and for vindicating of his right to his Dominions But that however because of the Scituation of the Islands of Sicily and Sardinia in the Mediteranean for the English Navigation and Trade into the Levant the sly Monsieur hath obliged himself to conquer those Kingdoms for the late King at his own Expence and with his own Arms and to give them up entirely to him in lieu of his Kingdom of Ireland Eighthly That still towards the furthering a stricter Friendship and Allyance between the two Nations of England and France and for perpetuating a mutual amity and sincere Correspondence If in case by the Violent or Natural Death either of King William or Prince George of Denmark or both of them one or both of the Princesses Royal shall become Widdows and that their Persons can be seized That then they shall be convey'd with all expedition and secrecy into France and be put into the French King's Power and shall there be Married Nolens Volens to such Prince or Princes as he shall appoint or think fit for them Ninthly That the Eldest or Surviving Issue of such Marriage shall succeed to the Crowns of Ireland and Scotland and England only to remain to the pretended Prince of Wales with the American Plantations Thus My Lord I have now given you the Stipulations so much desired by you I 'le leave your Lordship to descant and make such use of them as your known Wisdom and Ability shall direct for the good of the King and Country and shall reserve some further things which I cannot conveniently Write now and which relate to this subject to another opportunity and in the mean time I am and ever shall remain My Lord Your Lordships most Humble and Faithful Servant Paris Aug. 19. 1689. N. S. LETTER IX Some Reflections upon King James's League with the French King with an account of some further terms agreed upon between them in relation to the English Protestants in Ireland My Lord THis Court is mighty uppish upon the success of the late King James or I may more truly say their own in Ireland which if totally reduced by their conjoint Arms is to be one day their own as appears by the seventh Article stipulated between the two Kings and of which I gave your Lordship an account in my last And 't is not doubted but the Count d' Avaux hath already taken Livery and seisin of it privately in his Majesty's Name And that it is really so I am not only assured of by the said Articles but the same is more then probable by the great care and exactness that is had at Brest and other Ports of the Ocean to keep an account of all the Cloaths Arms Ammunition and Provisions that are shipped off there for Ireland and which according to some of the accounts stated and transmitted hither somewhat whereof I have had the opportunity to have a slight view of are set down at such extravagant rates as if they designed in a short time not only to ballance the account with him for Ireland but to make him considerably their Debter over and above for the carrying on another Game But they may chance to reckon without their Host in this as well as all the rest I pray God keep King William and his Royal Consort and may she and her Royal Sister be never so unhappy as to fall into the French power as your Lordship sees has been again conserted by the Ninth and last Article If ever it should so happen which God of his Mercy avert and that any such Match or Matches shall come to pass and issue come thereof my Friend hath secretly whispered me That then the pretended Prince of Wales is not like to be long liv'd But I still trust all these towering hopes of our Enemies will evaporate into Smoak and that their designs shall have as little Effect upon the lives and fortunes of our true Princes as their contrivances against the Religion and property of their Subjects shall become abortive and fruitless and whom they have agreed upon to treat in the following manner First That all possessors of Lands in Ireland that are of the Protestant Religion and will not turn Papists shall be bound to sell their Estates at a set price to the French King who shall let them out to the old Irish proprietors at certain Quit-rents and services that shall in a reasonable time reimburse him of the purchase Money Secondly But still to shew their good Nature and Lenity it s agreed that all Protestants that will shall have leave freely to depart with their Effects whither soever they please And lastly That such as will stay shall have liberty of Conscience granted them for the space of Twenty Years till the Country shall be fuller stockt with French Catholicks and other Papists I am well satisfied your Lordship will not think these Machinations a matter of nothing but as a good Patriot which you have shewed your self to be in the most Arbitrary times will stir up your self and honest Countrymen to obviate them seasonably which I as heartily wish as I have little reason to doubt it who am My Lord Your faithful and most Obedient Servant Paris Octo. 27. 1689. N. S. LETTER X. Of King James's Army in Ireland and Duke Schomberg's with Cardinal Bouillon's Motion for a Contribution for the support of the former My Lord THE raising of the Siege of London-derry and the landing of the English Army without interruption in Ireland under Duke Schomherg with other successes and advantages are so far from discouraging this Court in their hopes of a speedy conquest of that Kingdom that they have already in the Cabinet vaunted it to be as good as their own and that perhaps they need not stay for another Campaign to re-establish the late King upon the Throne of England and put themselves in an entire possession of the other Kingdom according to the full extent and meaning of the Stipulated Articles which I have formerly transmitted to your Lordship But because Money here is very hard to come by in such a proportion as to answer those vast Expences they are at to carry on the War upon the Continent which must be got at any rate they have resolved to carry on the Irish
Henry VIIth's 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 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 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 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 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 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 scarce a great part of them in dâ—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 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 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 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 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 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
at Night and that â—xet Morning was designed for sports and Pastimes they went speedily to Bed in the meanâ—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 â—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 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 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 â—â—â—dged with the Flames or covered with any Ashes so that it was impossible it could 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 Jamâ—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 Paâ—ricides to add Villany to Villany did spread Reports abroad and which were carryed by Day-light 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 mâ—st needs be the Author 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 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
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 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 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 to the Lords for their Concurrence they Rejected it January the 2 d 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 6 th 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 9 th 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 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 2 d. 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 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 20 th was brought from St. James
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 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 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. 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 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 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 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
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