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
Earl of Rothes was one This same Person had done great and eminent Services for the Cardinal but on a time there fell out a dispute concerning a private business which enstranged them a while one from another but Norman upon great promises made to him quitted his right in the matter contested for But coming after some months to demand the performance of what was promised him They fell from plain discourse to hot words and afterwards to down-right railing uttering such reproachfull words to one another as became neither of them and so they parted in great rage from one another The Cardinal fancying that he was not treated with that deference due to his Eminency and Norman full of Wrath and Fury as being Circumvented by fraud so that he returned home with thoughts bent upon revenge and openly among his Friends inveyed against the intollerable Pride of the Cardinal insomuch that they agreed to take away his Life And that the matter might pass with the least suspicion Norman with five only in his Company came to St. Andrew's and took up his usual Inn that his intentious might be concealed by reason of the paucity of his followers But there were ten more in the Town Privy to the Conspiracy who all in several places expected the Signal to fall on The Days were then very long as being in the Month of May and the Cardinal was Fortifying the Castle for his Defence for fear of any surprize in such great haste that the workmen continued at work almost Night and Day So that when the Porter early in the morning opened the Gates to let in the workmen Norman had placed two of his Men in ambush in an adjacent House with orders to seize the Porter And when they had by so doing made themselves Masters of the Gate They were to give the Signal to the rest By this means they all entered the Castle without any noise and dispatched four of their number to watch the Cardinal's Door that no Tydings might be carried in to him others were appointed to go to the Chambers of the rest of the household to call them up for they knew well enough both the Men and the Place them they roused up half awake and calling them by their Names threatned them severely to kill them without any more ado if they made but the least Out-cry so that they lead them all out of the Castle in great silence without doing them the least harm And now all the rest being put out they alone remained Mastâ—rs of the Castle Whereupon those that were posted at the Cardinal's Door knock'd at it and being asked by those within what their Names were they told them and then were admitted Having as have some written given their words that they would hurt no body But when they once got in they dispatched the Cardinal with many wounds In the mean time the Rumor run about the Town That the Castle was taken insomuch that the Cardinals Friends half drunk and half asleep started out of their Beds and cryed out Arms And thus they run to the Castle and called with Menaces and Reproaches for Ladders and other things necessary for a Storm They within seeing this that they might blunt the present impetuosity of their minds and put some check upon their fury Cryed out to them and demanded why they made such a bustle for the Man was dead whom they thought to rescue and with that threw out the Cardinals dead body in the sight of them all even out of that very place where before he rejoicingly beheld the Execution of George Wiseheart The English in the mean time pursue their expedition and make terrible havock in the Country at last the Regent with the assistance of the French gave them some repulse which was followed with a perswasive Letter from the English to a Peace But the Regent with his Regiment of Popish Priests about him and with whom he consulted alone about it rejected the proposals and gives them Battle but receives a most terrible defeat and the Priests and Monks paid the shot For the English who well knew it was by their Advice their Generous Offers had been refused took terrible Vengeance upon them and gave them no Quarter that bloody day But this and other Succesfull expeditions that followed could not prevent the Priestly faction to send their young Queen over into France which was the thing the English mostly dreaded as having a desire to have her Married to Edward VI. which would have United both Kingdoms But now the French had gained that point they grew very imperious and almost intollerable to the Scots themselves and at last came to an Agreement with the English to quit Scotland which was done in May 1550. The Regents Proceedings had disgusted many and he began to decline in his Authority so that he was brought at last by the French Artifice to resign his Office which by the same Interest was conferred upon the Queen â—owager But this was out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire and almost all the time of her Regency was spent with furious contests between her and the Reformed who at last with the Assistance of the English carried the Day tho' the young Queen was in the mean time Married to the Dauphine of France and the Q. Regent at last was forced to resign her Office by Death worn out with sickness and with grief that she could not Accomplish her Design After the Queen Regents Death Peace was concluded between both Parties and the French were to leave Scotland a point the Regent would never yeild to in her life time tho' often prest unto it and the Death of Francis the Queen of Scots Husband now become King of France occasioned her return into her own Country and the rather because she found her Mother-in-Law who managed matters of State now somewhat alienated from her and she could not endure to truckle to her Soon after her arrival she dispatched William Maitland Embassador to Q. Elizabeth to Confirm the Peace lately made but the Chief of his Errand appear'd to be to press Elizabeth to declare her to be the next Heir to the Crown of England which motion because Queen Elizabeth did not a little stomach and and I do verily believe had some influence upon Queen Mary's Future Calamity we shall a little more particularly insist upon together with the Queens reply to the Ambassador upon it He began first to acquaint her how highly the Queen his Mistress was affected toward her and how much she desired to maintain Peace and Amity with her he also carried to her Letters from the Nobility in which was mentioned a Friendly Commemoration of former obligations and Courtesies But one thing they earnestly desired of her that both publickly and privately she would shew her self Friendly and Courteous towards their Queen and being incited by good Offices she would not only preserve them in her ancient Friendship but superadd daily stronger obligations if possible
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
seeing his Enemies were unprepared of all things necessary for a Siege That his Fleet also which he had prepared to be an help to him at all adventures might be at hand This advice did indeed seem to be sound and real and had been safe enough in all probability in the event had it not been that the Governour of the Castle being corrupted by the opposite Faction excluded him from admittance And now all things conspire to his ruin for the Lords were now at his heels that he could not possibly retire to the Castle of Edenburg again and the Forces raised by the Earls of Huntley Errol Athol and diverse other Noblemen who stuck to him and which they said amounted to the number of Forty Thousand Men being not yet come up he would not stay for them and so with those Forces he had with him hazards a Battle The Battle was at first very fierce and the first Wing of the Nobâ—es Army gave way but the Annandalians and their Neighbours who inhabite the Western parts of Scotland press hard upon the Kings Forces and with their huge Spears much longer than their Adversaries quickly broke the King's main Body who finding now it was in vain to stand it and being injured with the fall of his Horse retires to a Mill that was not far off from the place of Battle with a design as was thought to get aboard his Ships which were not far off where being taken with a few more he was slain It 's not fully agreed who killed him but pursued he was to the foresaid place by Patrick Grey Sterling Keiry and a Priest whose name was Borthick and who it was said being asked by the King for a Confessor roughly replied That though he was no good Priest yet he was a good Leech and with that stab'd him to the Heart And here you see how contemptible the Majesty of a Prince is that is sullied with degenerous actions and there was this further ignominy affixed to his Death That it was enacted in the next Sessions of Parliament that he Justly suffered and strictly forbidden that any who had bore Arms against him or thier descendants should be upbraided therewith Young he was being about 35 years when he died and of them had Reigned near Twenty Eight in the year of our Lord 1488. The Son who had headed this Army is now advanced to the Father's Throne and known by the name of James the IV. being then about Sixteen years of Age. Wood who Commanded the Ships before mentioned was with great difficulty brought to submit and did afterward this King great Service who it seems had some remorse for his contributing so much to his Fathers Death for in token thereof he wore continually an Iron Chain about his middle all the days of his life made frequent visits to Religious places c. all which methinks seems to have been put upon him by some crafty Priest tho Historians are silent in that particular but he had hardly been warm in his Throne when those Nobles that were of his Father's Party sent their Emissaries to all the parts of the Kingdom and exhort one another not to endure the present state of things That so many brave Men should not suffer such publick paricides who had murdred one King and kept the other in servitude so proudly to illude them and to charge them with being guilty of High-Treason who fought for the King's defence and safety but that they should arrogate to themselves who were violators of all Divine and Humane Laws the title of being defenders of the Honour and Dignity of the Commonwealth and preservers of their Country in whose hands the King himself was not free as being enforced first to take up Arms against his Father and King and having wickedly slain him to prosecute his Father's Friends and such ns engaged in his defence by an unjust and Cruel War that was intollerable When many things of this nature had been bandyed about amongst the Common People Alexander Forbes to excite in them a greater hatred towards the present Administration caused the dead King 's bloody Shirt to be hung up on a long Pole and exposed publickly at Aberdeen and other places where there was great concourse of People This being as it were a publick Edict to stir up all Men to revenge so foul a Deed. Nay many of them who had engaged with them actually in the slaughter finding that all things did not go as they would have it now joyned with these Malecontents And as things were transacted in these parts about Aberdeen much to the new King's prejudice Matthew Stewart Earl of Levins a popular and potent Man in his Country summons all such as he had influence over this side the Forth to come to him and having raised a good body of Men finding he could not make his way over Sterling Bridge which was guarded by the Royalists he hastens towards a Ford not far from the River-head at the foot of Mount Grampias with a design to joyn with his Friends in those parts Now when John Drummond had notice hereof by Alexander Mac Alpin his Tenant and who had joyned the Enemy and found plainly that all things were so careless and secure in the Enemies Camp that they dispearsed themselves up and down as every one pleased and had no Centry nor Scouts and destitute of all Military Order and Discipline he immediately with the Courtiers and a few Voluntiers he had with him sets upon them un-a-wares and in a manner all asleep which was in too many of them continued by Death the rest unarm'd run back headlong from whence they came and many were made Prisoners but some known Friends and Acquaintance were let go they were severe only upon such as wrote or spoke very contumeliously of the Government and so this storm blew over and not long after a Parliament was called wherein past a general Act of Indemnity so that now nothing was expected here but Halcyon Days but a Storm quickly arose which terribly shook not only this but the Kingdom of England also by one Perkin Warbeck's pretending himself to be Richard Duke of York and second Son to King Edward IV. and so to have an undoubted Right to the Crown of England He came over from France into Scotland and possest this King so far with a belief of his Right and the Justice of his Cause that he not only gave him the Lady Margaret the Earl of Huntley's Daughter for a Wife but also raised an Army to defend his Cause which took up some Years of his Reign little enough to his or the Kingdoms Commodity and Advantage At last a Truce for some Years was agreed on between him and the King of England and the Consequence of that was first orders for Perkin of whom you may read at large in my Lord Bacon's History of Henry VII to depart the Realm of Scotland then a Marriage between King James and the Lady Margaret
aid at hand had set themselves in array at the Bridge of the River Aven which is about a mile from Linlithgow and placed a small Guard upon the Bridge to secure the Pass and drew up the rest of their Forces at the brow of the Hiâ—â— which they knew the Enemy must pass Lennox seeing that this passage over the Bridge was stopped Commanded his Men to pass over a small River a little above by the Nunnery called Manuell and so to beat the Hamiltonians from the Hills before Dowglass's Forces had joyned them The Lennoxians advanced towards the Enemy thorough thick and thin but were much incommoded by the others throwing of Stones down the Hills upon them and when they came to handy strokes the word was given that the Dowglasses were at hand and indeed they from their march ran in hastily into the Fight and soon carried the Day so that Lennox's Men were grievously wounded and put to flight The Victory was used by the Hamiltonians with much cruelty and among the Number of the slain was the Earl of Lennox himself highly lamented by all Persons and more especially by the King himself who now saw no visible hopes of ever retrieving his Liberty and could not choose but see how fatal his presence was to all that attempted it Now the Dowglasses are Lords paramount and carry all before them those that had taken up Arms against their King as they phrased it for fear of a Tryal were forced to compound with them for money or to put themselves into the Clanships of the Hamiltons or themselves and such as refused they utterly ruined yea and the Queen her self thought fit to retire to a place of Secrecy least she should fall into the hands of her Husband whom she hated But fury abating with time and the Dowglasses being severally intent upon other matters and concerns and secure as they thought as to the Kings Departure from them gave him at last an opportunity to gain his Liberty which all the former attempts of his Friends could not effect for him They believed now that his mind was fully Reconciled to them by those Blandishments and Immoderate Pleasures they had indulged him in and besides thought that if he were minded to remove there was no faction strong enough to oppose them neither was there any strong Garrison whither to retire but only to Sterling Castle which was allotted to the Queen for her Habitation And then it was deserted for a time by the Queens Officers when she hid her self for fear of the Dowglasses and when the tumult was a little appeased 't was somewhat Fortified but rather for a shew then any real defence The King having obtained some small relaxation saw that this must be his only refuge and and therefore he deals privately with his Mother to exchange that Castle and the Lands adjoining for other Lands as convenient for her and providing all other requisites as private as he could the Dowglasses not being so intent as formerly in their watch over him he retired by night with a small retinue from Falkland to Sterling whither he soon sent for some of the Nobles to come to him and others hearing the News came of their own accord so that now he seemed sufficiently secured against all force Then he issued out a Proclamation that the Dowglasses should abstain from all the Administration of publick affairs and that none of their Dependants should come within 12 miles of the Court upon pain of Death This Proclamation was quickly seconded with an Assembly of the Nobles at Edenburg where they had such Terms offered them as they would not accept whereupon their Offices were taken from them and themselves Summoned to attend the Parliament at Edenburg But they knowing the danger Endeavoured to seise upon Edenburg and dissolve the Parliament but failed in the attempt So that thâ— Earl of Angus retired to his Castle of Tanâ—allon and the Parliament proceeded in their business and the Earl with his Brothers Relations and intimate Friends were out Lawed They on the other hand being enraged at these proceedings and seeing all hopes of Pardon cut off betook themsâ—lves to open force and Committed all sorts of Outrages upon the Lands of their Enemies and with their Horse advanced many times to the very Gates of Edenburg so that the City was almost besieged by them The King thinking to unroost them all at once raises Forces and lays siege to Tantallon Castle but all that ever he could do could not take it At length the Dowglasses finding the Hamiltons and the rest of their Friends fail them found it necessary to retire for their better safety into England from whence came Ambassadors shortly after about settling a firm Peace between both Kingdoms and with the same labour to procure the Restitution of the Dowglasses King James was mighty desirous to have Tantallon Castle in his Power and at the same time his mind as averse to the Restoration of the Dowglasses and for that reason the matter was convassed too and fro for some Days and no temper of Accommodation could be found out But at length they came to this That Tantallon Castle should be surrendered to K. James a Truce between both Nations for five Years and the other demands in referrence to the Dowglasses he promised to grant under his Signet When the Castle was surrendered according to Composition the King failed of his Royal Word and not one of the Dowglasses were permitted to return which was foul prevarication in him and a stain that will not easily be blotted off his Memory seeing this was a principal matter in the Agreement and the Equivalent for the Castle The Truce about half expired was infringed by a War between both Nations which the French Ambassador endeavoured to compose and about the same time James transacts with the French King and afterward with the Emperor about a Match which was like to endanger his life For the Hamiltons almost confident of the Succession yet looking upon it a long way about to stay either for Fortuitous or Natural dangers to befall him and fearfull in case he married he might have Lawfull Issue of his own studied to hasten his Death by Treachery a fair opportunity was offered them to effect it by his Night-walkings to his Misses having but one or two in Company but however it were they ne'er could put their purpose in Execution The Emperor's offers were rejected and at last he went over himself into France to seek him a Wife and brings over along with him Magdelen Daughter to Francis the French King but she died soon after and had no issue The Death of Magdalen did but whet his desires to get him another Wife and to that End he dispatched Cardinal David Beaton and others into France to treat of a Match between himself and Mary of the House of Guise Widdow to the Duke of Longeville by whom he had two Sons and a Daughter of whom you 'll hear by
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
Eighty no less than Fifty Ships were missing for seven days But this was but the beginning of the Misfortunes of this Miserable Expedition for the Confusion of Orders was such as the Officers and Soldiers scarce knew who to Command or whom to Obey so that when they came to Cadiz a Conquest which would have paid the Charge of the Voyage and to the Honour of the English offer'd it self for the Spanish Shipping in the Bay lay unprovided of defence so as the surprising of them was both easie and feasible but this was neglected and when the Opportunity was lost Sir John Burroughs Landed the Army and took a Fort but was forced to quit it because of the Disorder and Intemperance of the Soldiers who upon that return'd on Board again and sailed away for England re insecta which occasion'd no small clamour from the People and especially in that none was punished for Mismanagement But how dishonourable soever this Expedition was the King and his Minister lost much more Reputation by lending a Fleet to the French King to beat that of the Rochellers under Monsieur Sobiez the Great Duke of Roan's Brother whereby a foundation was laid to ruin the Protestant Interest in France and which all the power that e're they could afterward make when the Tables were turned could not relieve though the Duke himself who was much sitter for the Delicacies of a Court than the toyls and stratagems of War was at the head of it and perished by the hands of Felton at Portsmouth just as he was ready to Embark the second time in person for that purpose It 's true the design was pursued by the Earl of Lindsey who several times attempted to force the Barricadoes of the River before Rochel but all in vain or if he had it would have been to no purpose for the Victuals wherewith they should have been relieved were all tainted and all the Tackle and other Materials of the Fleet defective so that they could not stay long there The many and unheard-of Violations of the Priviledges of the Subject by Loans Benevolences Ship-money Coat and Conduct-money c. with the continual Jars between this King and all his Parliaments during his Reign so as that there has been scarce three days of mutual harmony between them throughout which cannot be said of any other King since the Conquest how bad soever his Imprisoning Fining and banishing of the Members and his riding the Nation for above fifteen years together by more than a French Government because they are noted else where I think no where so well as in the History of the four last Reigns Written by that Learned Gentleman and my worthy good Friend when alive Mr. Roger Coke I shall not recite the same in this place as not falling exactly under the notion of this Treatise Tho I am to imform you these were the things together with the imposing the Service-Book upon the Scots where the Quarrel was begun by an Old Woman casting her Stool at the Priest when he was reading of it as they said that were the foundation of those dreadful Wars waged so many years within the Bowels of the three Kingdoms which do not fall under our present consideration neither and of the King 's subsequent destiny the Particulars whereof with some other concurring and intervening accidents we shall give you at large After the War had been manag'd between the King and Parliament with various fortune for some years and several Treaties set on foot to compose those unhappy and fatal Differences at last came the fatal day wherein the Quarrel came to be decided between them at Naseby in Northamptonshire which was on Saturnday June 14. 1645. Sir Thomas Fairfax was the Parliaments General and the King commanded his own Army in Person who in the beginning of the Fight prevailed for Prince Rupert Routed the Parliaments Left Wing commanded by Ireton but Pursuing to far left the Kings Left Wing open to be charged by Cromwel who falling furiously on and the rest Rallying obtained a most absolute Victory But among the vast number of Prisoners and Horses taken with Arms and Ammunition that which was even a greater loss to the King then the Battle was that one of his Coaches with his Cabinets of Letters and Papers fell into the Parliaments hands whereby his most Secret Counsels with the Queen which were so contrary to those he declared to the Kingdom were discovered For in one of his Letters he declared to her his intention to make Peace with the Irish and to have 40000 of them over into England to prosecute the War there In others he complained he could not prevail with his Mungrel Parliament at Oxford so he was pleased to call those Gentlemen who had stuck to him all along to Vote that the Parliament at Westminster were not a Lawful Parliament That he would not make Peace with the Rebels the Parliament without her approbation nor go one jot from the Paper She sent him That in the Treaty at Vxbridge he did not positively own the Parliament it being otherwise to be constru'd tho' they were so simple as not to find it out and it was Recorded in the Notes of the King's Council that he did not acknowledge them a Parliament Which Papers the Members took care to Print and Publish to the World and shewed by a publick Declaration what the Nobility and Gentry who followed the King might trust too and I dare say this stuck so close in the Minds of many that nothing contributed more to his Ruine then this double dealing of his Now the King's Garrisons surrender by heaps Oxford was the last which being blocked up by the Parliaments Forces the King thought himself in no security in it For the Parliament refused to admit him to come to London unless he signed their propositions wherefore the French Ambassador in the Scots Quarters advising him to throw himself into the Scots Power it was Hobson's Choice one even as good as the other and so being accompany'd by one Hudson a Minister and Mr. John Ashburnham he threw himself into the Scots hands who having got him into their Power resolve to make a double Bargain of him viz. to have him to order Montross to disband his Army and retire into Scotland and then to Sell him to the Parliament for as much Money as they could get for him The first is no sooner ask'd but granted but the bargain for the Sale of him and surely never was any King in this World so unhappy as to be sold by his own Subjects before himself being a mighty business to the Scots it lasted from the 5 th of May 1646 to January following when being concluded the Parliament who now had a full right to him after they had bought him confine him to â—oldenby-house an House of his own in Northamptonshire under a select Guard of their own choosing So that as Mr. Cook observes he that before had sifted the worthy
Members of Parliament from one Prison to another that they might not have the benefit of their Habeas Corpus's and the Constables of Hertfordshire from one Messenger to another is himself sifted Prisoner from one place to another without any hope of an Habeus Corpus And as he before by his absolute Will and Pleasure would without any Law seize his Subjects Goods and commit them to Prison as also raise Ship-money in an Arbitrary manner so he cannot now enjoy his own Estate in his own House nor has one Ship to command Soon after this the Parliament and Army began to be jealous of each other and the latter having no face of Authority to recur unto the Presbyterian Members in both Houses being three to one what do they do but send Cornet Joyce with a Party of Horse on the 4 th of June 1647 to take the King out of the Parliaments Commissioners hands and to keep him in the Army which however he might take it was not designed for his advantage tho' they seemed to lament the hard conditions the Members imposed upon him not only in his Liberty but in keeping him from his Children and Friends and now they allow him both professing they would never lay down Arms until they had put the Scepter into his hands and procured better Conditions for his Friends And in order hereunto they seem to joyn the King's Interests with their own and in their Declaration for Redress of Grievances declare for the King and People that the Members prefix a certain time for their Sitting and charge 11 of the leading Members that had been most forward to establish the Covenant with being guilty of High Treason and most of them fled for it The Covenanters could not but see whither these proceedings tended and therefore they had upon the 4 th of May settled the Militia of London in the hands of the Presbyterians but upon a Letter from the General or the 10 th of June to the Parliament that the Militia of London might be put into the hands of Persons better affected to the Army the Commons tamely Submitted to it and repealed the foresaid Ordinance of the 4 th of May. But the City-Men in Common Counsel Petition the Commons against this insisting upon their own Right to dispose of the Militia The Lords upon the Reading of the Petition revoke the Ordinance of the Commons of July 23 and confirm that of the 4 th of May according to the Cities desire and kept back some of the Commons till the Members within had agreed to it and enforced the Speaker to pass a Vote that the King should come to London and so both Houses Adjourned for four days In this Interval the Members who favoured the Army and the Speakers of both Houses went to the Army and there complained of the Violences put upon the Parliament and the Houses after the expiration of the four days Adjournment meet and chose new Speakers and Voted 1. That the King should come to London 2. That the Militia of London should be Authoriz'd to raise Forces for the defence of the City 3. That power be given to the same Militia to choose a General 4. And that the Eleven Members Impeach'd by the Army should take their Seats in the Parliament The Citizens hereupon proceed to raise Forces which tho' Numerous yet being raw and not fit to cope with an old Experienc'd and Victorious Army they were forced to come to Terms and comply with the Army in their demands so that in short the Speakers and Members returned again and recinded all that was done since the 26 th of July and Voted several Lords guilty of High Treason and the Lord Mayor with several other Citizens were committed Prisoners to the Tower upon the same account The King could not but conceive some hopes from these Broyls that might tend to his Advantage and indeed both Parliament and Army seem to Court him now and the Parliament sent propositions of Peace to him at Hampton-Court but Cromwel was as fearful the King should agree with the Parliament as the King was unwilling to agree to them and therefore Cormwel gave the Commissioners instructions that if the King would assent to Propositions lower then those of the Parliament that the Army would settle him again in his Throne hereupon the King returned Answer to the Parliament that he waved now the Propositions put to him or any Treaty upon them flies to the Proposals of the Army and urges a Treaty upon them and such as he shall make professes he will give Satisfaction to settle the Protestant Religion with Liberty to tender Consciences to secure the Laws Liberty and Property and Priviledges of Parliaments and as for those concerning Scotland he would Treat apart with the Scots Commissioners Upon Reading of the King's Answer a day was appointed by either House to consider of it and in the mean time they order'd the same to be communicated to the Scotch Commissioners It was affirmed in those times that Cromwel had made a private Article with the King that if the King closed with the Propositions of the Army Cromwel should be Advanced to a degree higher than any other as Earl of Essex and Vicar-General of England as Thomas Cromwel in Henry 8 time was But it seems he was so uxorious that he would do nothing without communicating it to the Queen and so wrote to her That tho' he assented to the Armies Proposals yet if by assenting to them he could procure a Peace it would be easier then to take of Cromwel than now he was the head that govern'd the Army Cromwel who had his Spies upon every motion of the King intercepts these Letters and resolved never to trust the King again yet doubted that he could not manage his designs if the King were so near the Parliament and City at Hampton-Court Therefore Cromwel sent to the King that he was in no safety at Hampton-Court by reason of the hatred which the Adjutators bore to him and that he would be in more safty in the Isle of Wight and so upon the 11 th of November at night made his escape having Post-horses and a Ship provided for him at South-hampton to that purpose But when he came to the Island he was secured by Collonel Hammond who gave the Parliament notice of it from whence the King sent to the Members for a Personal Treaty of Peace at London which after much debate was agreed to upon four Preliminaries which the King utterly rejected and so incensed the Houses that they Voted that they would make no further applications or addresses to the King That no other presume to make any application to him without leave from both Houses That whoever Transgressed in that kind should be guilty of High Treason That they would receive no more Messages from the King and that none presume to bring any Message from him to either or both Houses of Parliament or any other Person These were hard