rections of the duke of Hamilton, and not declare themselves till he had declared himself, when they might do it without danger"-unwittingly an excellent and a safe advice; another from Stair, secretary to lord Middleton, informing a friend in Edinburgh of Hooke's mission, which he assured him was only a feint, and that the French king would do nothing for the Scots; and a third, which mentioned that the friends of the exiles" had nothing to hope, and were greatly to be pitied."

Without appearing disconcerted when these damning proofs of his perfidy were produced, Hooke, who was prepared for accidents, handed the high constable a letter from the French king, and another from the pretender, along with his credentials, with which his lordship seemed satisfied, and said he would consult his friends respecting a treaty. Hooke, however, whose powers did not authorize him to treat in the usual acceptation of the word, by entering into any reciprocal engagement, assented, but with an intention of coming to no conclusion. He had opened up a communication with the duke of Athol, and intended to play the one off against the other; but, true to his adopted country, to regulate his conduct by the disposition of the people, without much regard to the interest of the pretender. "I knew," says he, in his narrative to the French minister of war, "that the bulk of the nation was for the king of England; but I was still ignorant of the intentions of the presbyterians and of the west country people. I knew that these last were better armed than the rest, and I kept myself always ready to join with that party which they should espouse, as they would not stand in need of so many supplies, and are not so divided into different factions as the rest, and therefore it would be more easy to put them in motion at a small expense."

The villanous duplicity of this agent was counteracted by his ignorance and presumption; and it is highly amusing to observe how admirably he was matched by Kerr of Kersland, whom he styles the most leading man among

the presbyterians, and chief of one of the most considerable. This gentleman assured him, "that the presbyterians are resolved not to agree to the union, because it hurt their consciences, and because they are persuaded that it will bring an infinite number of calamities upon this nation, and will render the Scots slaves to the English. They are ready to declare unanimously for king James, and only beg his majesty that he will never consent to the union, and that he will secure and protect the protestant religion. The declaration, with regard to religion, ought to be in general terms. Those among the presbyterians, who are called Cameronians, will raise five thousand men of the best soldiers in the kingdom! and the other presbyterians will assemble eight thousand more. They beg that the king of England would give them officers, especially general officers, and send them powder, for they have arms already. Whenever his Britannic majesty shall have granted the preceding demands, and shall have promised to follow his supplies in person to Scotland, they will take arms against the government, and will give such other assurances of their fidelity as shall be desired. Provided powder be sent them, they engage to defend their own country with their own forces alone, against all the strength of England for a year, till the arrival of the king;"-and as a crowning sheaf to the rick, he added, "they are ready to join themselves to the friends of the king of England, whether catholics or episcopals!"

In this contest of roguery, the conduct of Hamilton also was exquisite. When Hooke, who conceived that Hamilton aimed at the crown for himself, thought he had secured Errol, whom he imagined entirely devoted to the pretender, he sent a message to the duke, telling him that he had orders to address himself principally to his grace, who

• Kerr's original name was Crawfurd, but he married the heiress of Kersland, whose father had been forfeited for the rising at Pentland, and he thus gained admission among the presbyterians, which he made use of, to excite them to some extravagancies, in order to deceive the jacobites, and then betrayed both to government. As an example to his tribe, he was left to die in jail at the age of 52.

VOL. VI.

he knew was the soul of the whole affair, and therefore desired that he would point out a way by which he might see him in safety; that he had hitherto entered into no measures with any one, nor would till he had his answer; that it was now in his power to cover himself with immortal honour, and to render himself greater than any of his ancestors; that he would remove all difficulties, and show him easy expedients that he did not think of; that if he neglected this occasion, it would never return; that he would ruin not only his country, but himself, the English having been too much irritated by him not to crush him; and concluded with strong expressions of concern for his grace's indisposition, and ardent desires to be of service to him.

Hall, the priest, brought a verbal answer. He offered a thousand compliments from the duke, begged to know the propositions he had to make to him from the king, entreated that he would come to Edinburgh, and he would use his utmost endeavours to see him. Hooke thus pressed, was forced to declare that he was not entrusted with any propositions, and had only come to receive those of the Scots; but he would willingly proceed to Edinburgh, if he were assured that his journey would not be fruitless. Hall then told him, that indeed the duke of Hamilton earnestly desired to see him; but, to tell the truth, he did not believe that he could, for he was bedfast, and always surrounded by his domestics, nor did his duchess ever leave him; that he was transported to hear that the king had done him the honour to write to him, but that he had likewise expected a letter from the queen of England, and as that princess had not written to him, he concluded that the scheme was not approved of by her; and he had too much. respect for her judgment to concern himself with an affair of which she did not approve; that he had suspected Hooke had no propositions to make, but he must either begin with making propositions or there could be no treaty.

The colonel, who by no means liked this coming to close quarters, replied, he would not allow himself to be so easily blinded by such weak shifts. The duke had been a long time soliciting succours, and he was disposed to pro

mise his grace whatever supplies he wanted; it was his part, therefore, to make proposals, and after he had fully weighed them, he would do his utmost to satisfy him, as he had full authority to promise every thing which he thought necessary, and would not hesitate in agreeing to whatever was reasonable,—Mr. Hall answered, that the duke had charged him to learn what support the French king would give to the Scots. Hooke told him it was not yet time to talk of succours; that it was proper first to know perfectly the forces which the well-affected could raise, and the means they had to support them; but, in the meanwhile, he would inform him, that although the king had a great desire to befriend the Scots, and was willing to assist them to make war, he was by no means disposed to make war for them. Hall then asked if the king would grant ten thousand men? "No! nor do I believe the Scots will be so unreasonable as to ask them," said Hooke. "That, however," returned Hall," is the least the duke of Hamilton believes can be asked." "You may tell the duke of Hamilton," rejoined the emissary haughtily, "that it is not usual to behave thus to a great king; I would advise him not to ask the half, and perhaps, after examining every thing, it may be found that the Scots have no need of foreign troops, but," livening his tone, he added, “you may tell the duke of Hamilton from me, that I have something very particular to say to him, which I can mention to nobody but to himself; and I have so much respect for him, that I shall wait yet four days before I enter into a negotiation with the other lords," and they parted. Within the time specified, he received a letter from Mr. Hall. "He had, found his grace the duke, he was sorry to say, in a most distressed condition, reduced to the last extremity, breathing with the utmost difficulty, having had no less than twenty-nine fits of the ague! His grace was in despair," he added, "that he could not see the colonel, that he loved and esteemed him, and would willingly give his life to have some discourse with him! He had no doubt of his friendship, and therefore begged of him to excuse his not answering the king's letter, but intended to

do himself that honour with the first opportunity after he had recovered his strength; that he would concur in all reasonable measures for the restoration of the king of England, but, it was his opinion, that prince ought not to risk himself without a considerable body of troops; and he wished him a good voyage !"

Mr. Hooke, notwithstanding all these flattering compliments, having his own misgivings about the sincerity of both the duke and the priest, had recourse to a trick, which, although deservedly accounted infamous in private life, like many other villanies, is not held equally base in accredited spies—| he obtained possession of some of Hall's confidential correspondence, by which he found his doubts confirmed; but having found mentioned in one of these that Hamilton had it in his power to place the king of England on the throne of Scotland without the assistance of France, although that prince should bring no more than a single page with him, he consoled himself for the treatment he had received by the discovery he had now made of the duke's certain intention of seizing the throne for himself. Revolving this idea in his mind, as he perceived that the duke had lost his interest with the nobility, he very sagely concluded that earl Marischall and viscount Kilsyth adhered to Hamilton upon this occasion-and happy had it been for themselves and their posterity that they had never departed from his policy-Lockhart of Carnwath and Cochrane of Kilmarnock, also declined corresponding with the colonel, who had now assumed the post of an ambassador, and was not displeased to be addressed by the title of Excellency.*-With the other jacobite lords he succeeded better.

Perfectly satisfied with the representation of Kersfield, which was confirmed by the duchess of Gordon, and a person of the name of Strachan, Hooke was now only anxious to conceal from the duke of Hamilton and his friends the

* Hooke says in his narrative, "that lord Strathmore's brother told him the the laird of Carnwath had authorized him to sign in his name all that should be regulated with him." But Lockhart tells us himself that he expressly disapproved of the whole transaction. Memoirs.