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siderable body of troops, and he concluded, by wishing Hooke a good voyage.*

On the receipt of this letter, and comparing it with some other letters written by the duke of Hamilton, which fell into his hands, probably by design, Hooke was so incensed, that he would write no more, either to the duke, or to Mr. Hall. Reflecting, however, upon an assertion of the duke, that he could put the king upon his throne, without any assistance from France, while, at the same time, he endeavoured to hinder him from coming over to Scotland, Hooke was persuaded, "that he had still an intention of seizing the throne himself;" and being assured, that in such an attempt, the Presbyterians behoved to be his only resource, resolved to give his whole attention to know them thoroughly, that if they were so disposed, he might take his measures accordingly. In pursuance of this plan, a courier was despatched to the dutchess of Gordon, begging to be informed of all the particulars respecting the chiefs of the Presbyterians, and of all they had proposed to her.

In the meantime, Hooke proceeded to the house of lord Stormont, where he was waited upon by Lyon of Auchterhouse, who brought an answer from Lockhart of Carnwath, to a letter that had been sent by him, stating, "That he came from his estate in the west country, where he had carefully endeavoured to inform himself of the disposition of the Presbyterians, and he had been agreeably surprised to find an alteration in their sentiments almost miraculous. You cannot imagine," he adds, "the surprising change happened in that country, in the maxims and inclinations of the inhabitants, the justness of their opinion with regard to the state of affairs, their zeal, and their eagerness to undertake something for their king and their country, and this disposition does not prevail in some corners only, but is universal throughout all the counties. Can it be possible that so fine an opportunity will not be laid hold of?"+

Hooke's Secret Negotiations, p. 38.

Hooke sets forth the dignity and wealth of this laird, as he styles him, with great pomp, and states, that he was one of the commissioners for the treaty of union, and that he protested against all their proceedings, which latter circumstance he could hardly fail to know was not true, as it was matter

The same things were, according to Hooke, repeated of the Presbyterians by the laird of Stanhope, and confirmed by the laird of Desterenson,* whom he calls "a great Presbyterian," who, coming to Scoon, assured Hooke, "that his vassalsPresbyterians they were of course-earnestly pressed him to take off the mask, and to join the friends of the k— of England." Even the national assembly of the Presbyterians, then sitting, he informs us, approved of every thing that the provincial synods and presbyteries had done against the union, and rejected a motion by the royal commissioner, for congratulating the queen upon the conclusion of the treaty; but, if he did not intend to deceive, he ought to have told, that they approved of all that had been done for it too, and though they dared not, for fear of increasing the odium they had already incurred, to speak pointedly upon the union, they did address her majesty in terms sufficiently submissive and panegyrical, which, if they were not intended to apply to that treaty, appear to be altogether without meaning.†

of reproach against Mr. Lockhart among the Jacobites, that he had not done so; and from this reproach, Lockhart is at pains to vindicate himself very fully, in his Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland. Lockhart Papers, vol. i. pp. 142, 143.

* Colonel Hooke's work bears every mark of authenticity, and is abundantly corroborated by The Stuart Papers, The Lockhart Papers, &c. &c. but he has been so careless of his names, that it is sometimes impossible to discover the individuals couched under them.

"But your Majesty hath also been concerned to preserve Christian unity and harmony amongst us, by manifesting a pious care, not to straiten us in any thing, wherein your Majesty did judge our principles were concerned. We have such grateful impressions of this your Majesty's wise and tender management, as will not only influence ourselves to a firm and steady loyalty, but put us upon using our utmost endeavours in our stations, to maintain and promote it amongst all in whom we have an interest; in which we crave liberty to assure your Majesty that we shall not be wanting, for we cannot but acknowledge, that we are under the highest obligations, not only as subjects, but as Protestants, to be constant and fervent in our addresses to the sovereign God that he would richly bless, long preserve, and prosper your Majesty, whose zeal for maintaining of our holy religion, and restoring to their just rights those that have been unjustly oppressed for adhering to it, hath been in the course of your glorious reign, manifested to the world, and which, to our great joy, hath signally appeared in your Majesty's most gracious answer to

In the exercise of all this successful activity, falling sick, and unable to travel from the seat of one nobleman to that of another, Hooke despatched messengers to inform them of his illness, and request them to wait upon him, or send their several proposals in writing. The dutchess of Gordon, who had taken the Presbyterians especially under her protection, and who insisted upon seeing Hooke, was particularly apprized of the circumstance, and reminded of the necessity of sending an accredited person, to communicate all she had to say without loss of time. She immediately despatched, with a very ample letter of credence, a gentleman of the name of Strachan, possessing, as Hooke was made to believe, the entire confidence of the Presbyterians, and from whom he received a memorial, written by Ker of Kersland, whom he styles, the leading man in that body, and "chief of one of the most considerable families in Scotland." Having considered the heads of this extraordinary memorial, of which, it may safely be presumed, the Presbyterians were perfectly ignorant, Hooke told Mr. Strachan, "that he might assure those gentlemen, that their zeal and their design was most agreeable to the king of England; that his desire is, that they should take arms; and that he would represent their good dispositions and their demands, and would inform them how they were to act; that Kersland would do well to keep himself in readiness to go over to France in case of need; that he himself would regulate the manner of writing to Mr. Strachan, to Kersland, and to Mr. Walkinshaw, who was to receive the ship load of powder mentioned in their memorial," and he begged of them to let him hear from them before his departure. He wrote also to the same purpose to the dutchess of Gordon, to be communicated by her to the chiefs of the Presbyterians.

The Presbyterians being thus disposed of, Hooke hasted to bring his treaty with the other lords to a conclusion; but, entirely devoted to the interests of France, and determined to engage Louis to nothing, he found this a matter of more diffi

the late address of our brethren, the distressed and persecuted Protestants of France." Printed Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland,

1707.

* Hooke's Secret Negotiations, p. 47.

eulty than he had anticipated. Ardent in the cause of legitimacy, and eager to engage the French king in their interest, the different chieftains had stated every thing in the most favourable light, expecting, that succours would be the more readily granted, in proportion as they could demonstrate them to be less needed. Hooke, however, made altogether a different improvement of their various, but generally favourable accounts. He contended, from their own statements, that they had ample means among themselves, and positively refused to commit himself or his master, for any succours whatever. After much discussion, in which the presumption and ignorance of both parties* formed the most remarkable features, it was agreed, at the suggestion of

"They

The reader may take the following short specimen in proof. demanded what succours they might expect from his most Christian Majesty. I answered, that I was authorized to promise every thing I should judge necessary; that the succours therefore would be regulated by their wants; for I could never judge it proper to promise them succours which they had no need of, and by their memorial, it did not appear that they were in want of many things. They replied, that they had not a mind to state all their demands, till they had spoke to me concerning the article of succours; that to render themselves masters of Scotland, they in truth needed nothing but the person of the k― of England, arms, ammunition and money; but their design being to penetrate into England, and to oblige the English, either to submit, or to treat with them, they would have occasion for powerful succours to succeed in that enterprize. I answered, that I was not of their opinion-that from the moment they were masters of Scotland, they would need none but their own forces to penetrate into England; that there were no troops in Scotland that could hinder them from assembling; that the English were not in a condition to oppose so considerable an army as they proposed to raise ; that they could never want for provisions in an open and plentiful country; and that they would be able to raise contributions, which would more than supply all their wants, after the example of their forefathers, who in the late wars between Scotland and England, in 1639, raised 800 pounds sterling a day, only in the three northern counties of England, which is the poorest of that kingdom." In the same style of flattery and fustian, he goes on to as. sure them, that a body of troops would be of more detriment than service, foreigners not being used to live upon so little as the Scots." Full of the idea of Scotish invincibility, he gravely affirms, "that they had no reason to be affrighted at the name of regular troops, as their own would become regulars in the space of fifteen days! all their men being accustomed to the use of the gun from their infancy, all of them also being hunters; that they were disciplined from the age of twenty-six, and were perfectly acquainted with all the military evolutions; that naturally they stand fire, with so little

some angry

Mr. Graham, who had been solicitor to king James, to insist upon nothing, but simply to transmit a memorial, stating their case to the French king, and referring themselves wholly to his wisdom, in the depth of which he could not fail to judge most properly of their wants; and besides, it was reasoned, that he behoved to be deeply affected with so great a confidence in his goodness.* Still, however, there were difficulties to overcome. Some gentlemen scrupled to sign the memorial, preferring the original design of a treaty, and it was necessary so to manage matters, that if all were not pleased, no one might be reasonably offended. The greater part, indeed, were perfectly manageable, but there were a few, on whose behalf lord Kilsyth was particularly active, who would do nothing without the duke of Hamilton, which occasioned a renewal of their discussions, and recrimination between Hooke and lord Kilsyth, on the part of that noble duke. All that accrued from their lengthened deliberations, however, was only, the humbly suggesting to his most Christian majesty, one or two things, which yet were left entirely to his discretion, that his grace the duke of Hamilton might not be able to say, that he had been altogether neglected. The memorialists, indeed, seem to have had a particular jealousy and distrust of the duke, which seems to have arisen, in a great measure, in the present instance at least, from his unwillingness to engage in the business without a reasonable prospect of success, to ensure which, he supposed a supply of arms, money and ammunition, with ten thousand well appointed troops, together with the adoption of measures to satisfy the people in general, as to the security of their religion and civil rights, to be necessary. The latter part of his conditions, being papists, they were anxious to avoid, and, confident in their own powers, the friendly intentions of his most Christian majesty, and the concurrence of the people in general, they hoped by themselves to establish the king, with

apprehension and concern; that their recruits have been always as much esteemed as their old soldiers, and," most consolatory, "that they are robust, live hard, and that they would destroy an English army without fighting, merely by fatiguing it!!" Hooke's Secret Negotiations, pp. 49, 52,

*Hooke's Secret Negotiations, p. 54.

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