that was absolutely necessary. I told them I was neither instructed by my constituents to do so, neither had I myself clearness to do it, and that on these terms I neither could nor would either visit or address his highness. In that season also, I had the honour to be acquainted, and several times visited the worthy Dr. Turner, bishop of Ely, whose conversation was very useful to me, and every way agreeable. And besides these bishops already mentioned, I had not the honour to be acquainted with any other, and thus the whole time of the convention was passed off, excepting what was spent in necessary duties, and visiting our countrymen, even until the day the dark scene was opened by the surprising vote of abdication; on which I went over to Lambeth. What passed there betwixt his grace and me (being all private) it is both needless and would be very tedious, and perchance not so very proper to write it. In the close, I told his grace that I would make ready to go home, and only wait on his grace once more before I took my journey.

While I was making my visits of leave to my countrymen, I was surprizingly told that some two or three of them, attempting to go home without passes, were the first stage stopt upon the road, and that none were to expect passes without waiting on the prince. Whereupon I repaired again to Lambeth, to have his grace's advice, who considering the necessity of that compliment, agreed to my making it. Upon my applying to the bishop of London to introduce me, his lordship asked me whether I had any thing to say to the king (so was the stile in England then): I replied I had nothing to say, save that I was going for Scotland, being a member of the convention; for I understood that without waiting on the prince, (that being the most common Scots stile) I could not have a pass, and that without that, I must needs be stopt upon the road, as several of my countrymen had been. His lordship asked me again, saying, seeing the clergy have been, and are so routed and barbarously treated by the Presbyterians, will you not speak to the king to put a stop to that, and in favour of your own clergy? My reply was, that the prince had been often applied to in that matter by several of the nobility, and addressed also by the sufferers themselves, and yet all to no purpose, wherefore I could have no hopes that my intercessions would be of any avail; but if his lordship thought otherwise, I would not decline to make them. His lordship asked me farther, whether any of our country men would go along with me, and spoke particularly of sir George

Mackenzie. I replied, I doubted nothing of that; whereupon his lordship bid me find him out, that both he and I should be at court that day, against three in the afternoon, and that he would surely be there to introduce us; all which (I having found sir George) imparted to him, who liked it very well, and said it was a good occasion, and wished that several of our nobility might be advertised by us to be there also; to which I replied, that I doubted much, whether coming in a body, he (the prince) would give us access; and that our nobility would be much offended at us, if coming to court upon our invitation, access should be denied them, and therefore I thought it best that we alone should meet the bishop at the time appointed, and advise with him what was fit to be done; which was agreed to and upon our meeting with the bishop, sir George made that overture to his lordship, which he closing with very warmly, said he would go into the king, and see if he would appoint a time for the Scots episcopal nobility and gentry to wait upon him in favour of the clergy of Scotland, so sadly persecuted. Whereupon the bishop leaving us in a room of Whitehall, near adjoining to the place where the prince was, stayed above a full half-hour from us, and upon his return told us, the king's answer was, that he would not allow us to come to him in a body, lest that might give jealousy and umbrage to the Presbyterians, neither would he permit them (for the same reason) to come to him in numbers; and that he would not allow above two of either party at a time to speak to him on church mat

ters.

Then the bishop directing his discourse to me, said, My lord, you see that the king, having thrown himself upon the water, must keep himself a swimming with one hand. The Presbyterians have joined him closely, and offer to support him, and therefore he cannot cast them off, unless he could see how otherwise he can be served. And the king bids me tell you, that he knows the state of Scotland much better than he did when he was in Holland; for while there, he was made believe that Scotland, generally all over, was Presbyterians, but now he sees that the great body of the nobility and gentry are for episcopacy, and it is the trading and inferior sort are for presbytery; wherefore he bids me tell you, that, if you will undertake to serve him to the purpose that he is served here in England, he will take you by the hand, support the church and order, and throw off the Presbyterians.

My answer to this was, My Lord, I cannot but thank the

prince for his frankness and offer; but withall I must tell your lordship, that, when I came from Scotland, neither my brethren nor I apprehended any such revolution as I have seen now in England, and therefore I neither was, nor could be, instructed by them what answer to make to the prince's offer, and therefore what I say, is not in their name, but only my private opinion; which is, that I truly think they will not serve the prince so as he is served in England, that is, as I take it, to make him their king, nor give their suffrage for his being king; and though as to this matter, I can say nothing in their name, and as from them, yet for myself I must say, that, rather than do so, I will abandon all the interest that either I have, or may expect to have, in Britain. Upon this the bishop commended my openness and ingenuity, and said he believed it was so; for, says he, all the time you have been here, neither have you waited on the king, nor have any of your brethren, the Scots bishops, made any address to him, so the king must be excused for standing by the Presbyterians.

Immediately upon this, the prince going somewhere abroad, comes through our room, and sir George Mackenzie takes leave of him, in very few words. I applied to the bishop, and said, My lord, there is now no farther place for application, in our church matters, and this opportunity for taking leave of the prince is lost; wherefore I beg that your lordship would introduce me for that effect, if you can, next day about ten or eleven in the forenoon, which his lordship promised and performed; and upon my being admitted into the prince's presence, he came three or four steps forward from his company, and prevented me, by saying, My lord, are you going for Scotland? My reply was, Yes, sir, if you have any commands for me. Then he said, I hope you will be kind to me, and follow the example of England; wherefore being somewhat difficulted how to make a mannerly and discreet answer, without entangling myself, I readily replied, Sir, I will serve you so far as law, reason, or conscience will allow me. How this answer pleased I cannot well tell, but it seems the limitations and conditions of it were not acceptable, for instantly the prince, without saying any more, turned away from me and went back to his company. Considering what had passed the day before, I was much surprised to find the prince accost me in these terms; but I presume, that either the bishop (not having time) had not acquainted him with what had passed, or that the prince proposed to try what might be made of me by the honour he did me of that immediate

demand. And as that was the first, so it was the last time, I had the honour to speak with his highness. The things I write were not only upon the matter, but in the self-same individual words, that I have set them down. Whether what the bishop of London delivered as from the prince, was so, or not, I cannot certainly say; but I think his lordship's word was good enough for that: or whether the prince would have stood by his promise, of casting off the presbyterians and protecting us, in case we had come in to his interest, I will not determine; though this seems the most probable to me, and that for these reasons: he had the Presbyterians sure on his side, both from inclination and interest, many of them having come over with him, and the rest having appeared so warmly for him, that with no good grace, imaginable, could they return to king James's interest; next by gaining, as he might presume to gain, the episcopal nobility and gentry, which he saw was a great party, and consequently that king James would be deprived of his principal support; then he saw what a hardship it would be upon the church of England, and of what bad consequence to see episcopacy ruined in Scotland; who no doubt would have vigorously interposed for us, if we by our carriage could have been brought to justify their mea

sures.

And I am the more confirmed in this, for after my coming down here, my lord St. Andrew and I taking occasion to wait on duke Hamilton, his grace told us, a day or two before the sitting down of the convention, that he had it in special charge from king William, that nothing should be done to the prejudice of episcopacy in Scotland, in case the bishops could by any means be brought to befriend his interest, and prayed us most pathetically for our own sake to follow the example of the church of England; to which my lord St. Andrew replied, that both by natural allegiance, the laws, and the most solemn oaths, we were engaged in the king's interest, and that we were by God's grace to stand by it in the face of all dangers, and to the greatest losses; subjoining that his grace's quality and influence put it in his hands to do his majesty the greatest service, and himself the surest honour; and if he acted otherwise, it might readily lie as a heavy tache and curse both upon hin self and his family. I can say no more for want of paper,

save that I am as before,

1774, April.

ALEX. EDINE.

XVIII. Account of King John's Death, from an ancient MS.

Mr. URBAN,

I SEND you herewith, copied from an ancient MS. in my possession, an account of the death of King John, which Rapin rejects, (and his translator after him), because no contemporary writer mentions the same, and on the improbability of a man poisoning himself to be revenged of another. A dissertator on the history of this reign however (whose tract is added to the fifth volume of the last octavo edition) gives very good reasons for receiving this account, which (according to Mr. Tindal) is first mentioned in English by Caxton, a monk. Whether this MS. history, which is continued down to the beginning of the reign of Edward the third, and comes with internal evidence of being the production of a monkish writer, be written by that Caxton, Í leave to some of your ingenious correspondents to deter

nine.

"The barons of Engelond had so hughe partye and helpe thurgh Lowys the kynges sone of Fraunce, that kyng John wist not whider for to turne, ne gone; and so it felle, that he wolde have gon to Nichole,* and as he wente thiderward he come to the abbey of Swyneshened,† and ther he abode ij dayes. And as he sat at mete, he axed a monke of the hows, how meche a lof was worth that was set byfore hym at the table; and the monke seide that the lof was worth but an halfpenny. "O, quod he, tho here is gret chepe of breed; now, quod the kyng, & I may lyve such a lof schal be worth xxd. or half yeer be agon." And when he had seyd this word mych he thoghte & oft tyme siked, and nomet & ete of the breed, and seyd, "be God the word I have spoke it schal be soth." The monke that stood before the kyng, was for this woord fol sory in herte, and thoghte rathere he wold hymselfe souffre pitous deth, and thoght if he myghte ordeigne therefore some maner remedye. And anone the monke went to his abbot, & was schreven of hym & told the abbot al that the kyng seyde, and prayed his abbot for to assoyle|| him, for he wold geve the kyng such a watsayll¶ that all Engelond schuld be glad thereof,

*Lincoln. Rapin. + Swines-head, or Swinstead.

§ confessed by him.

to give him absolution.

took.

Watsayll, wassail or wassel, a Saxon phrase used on drinking beol ́hs, literally signifying your health; from thence the bowl used on this occasion