Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 2.djvu/574

560 a friend of him. They were to go into the shires and to appoint secretly good sowers, who would zealously prepare the people for his succession, which, he said, must be soon, unless "the old lady meant to last as long as the sun or the moon."

Whilst James, with his usual scheming, was thus tampering with the subjects of Elizabeth, it is supposed that she was by no means unaware of his proceedings, and had a hand in a transaction which remains to this hour one of the mysteries of history. James being at Falkland, and spending much time in hunting, was about to mount his horse and start for the chase on the 5th of August, when he was accosted by Alexander Gowrie, the brother of the Earl of Gowrie. This Alexander Gowrie and his brother, the earl, were the sons of the Earl of Gowrie, who was beheaded, in 1584, for seizing and detaining James at his castle of Ruthven in what was called the Raid of Ruthven. They were also the grandsons of that old Ruthven who figured prominently in the murder of Rizzio. The present Gowries had always had the reputation of belonging to what was called the English party, or those who favoured the plans of Elizabeth, and were generally in her pay. It may be supposed that James would look with suspicion on this Alexander, who suddenly appeared before him; but the business on which he announced himself, and the man's manner, if we are to credit James's own account of the affair, were still more suspicious. He drew the king apart, and informed him—but with his eyes fixed on the ground—that the day before he had discovered a large pot of money—gold pieces of a large size—which a man near Perth had concealed under a wide cloak; that he had apprehended the man, and now entreated the king to go with him and see the man, and decide upon the gold. A more improbable story could scarcely have been invented; but whoever did invent it knew well James's unfailing cupidity.

James, who was one of the most timid of mortals, says that he at first refused to accompany the man; but the pot of gold running in his head as he rode to the chase, he called the man and told him that as soon as they had run down the buck he would go with him. The chase ended about eleven o'clock, and then James kept his word and rode off towards Perth with Gowrie, followed at a little distance by some of his attendants. As he went along, fears and suspicions came across his mind, and he began to suspect some treasonable device. The wonder is that, under the circumstances, he went on; but the gold was a strong bait. On approaching the house of the Earl of Gowrie, he was met by the earl, attended by about eighty armed followers, James's attendants being only fifteen, and unarmed. This added to James's terror. He was assured that the earl had only just been apprised of the honour of the king's visit, and had risen suddenly from the dinner-table to meet him. In consequence, James and his retainers had to wait an hour before dinner was served to them, and then it was of a very meagre kind.

During dinner, James's alarm increased from suspicious circumstances in the conduct of the earl; and after it James and Alexander proceeded to the man who was said to have the pot of gold. James observed that Gowrie carefully locked every door behind them till they came into a little closet, where stood a man with a dagger at his girdle. No sooner was the door shut and looked than Alexander Gowrie altered his whole demeanour—clapped on his hat, and, drawing the dagger from the man's girdle, pointed it at the king's breast, declaring the king to be in his power, and that he was sure his conscience was troubled with the murder of the earl his father. James exclaimed against the monstrous crime the man was meditating, and assured him that if he spared his life he would forgive him, and not a creature should know. On this Gowrie appeared to relent, and said the king's life should be safe, but he must go and speak to the earl. He left the king locked up with the man, who trembled from head to foot, and protested that he had no idea what he had been placed there for. Alexander Gowrie soon returned, declaring now that the king must die, and that the earl had sent away his servants on the assurance that the king had ridden away from the postern. He seized James, and tried to tie his hands with a garter; but James says that he snatched away his hands, laid one on the sword which Gowrie was already drawing, and with the other seized the villain by the throat. They thus struggled, James managing to drag the man towards an open window, where he shouted with all his might "Murder!" His servants happened to be passing at the moment, and, rushing up-stairs, found James still struggling with the ruffian, whom they dispatched, and also the earl. The news of this strange incident was received with great incredulity by James's subjects. The clergy would not even read from the pulpits the order of Council, giving an account of "The unnatural and vile conspiracy." But there appears no great reason to doubt the fact. James had incurred the resentment of the Gowries by the death of their father. The clergy were vexed at their death, for they were stanch supporters of the Presbyterian cause; and that party being in close alliance with the English Government, there were sufficient reasons why there should be means used to divert James from any participation in Essex's schemes at that moment. It was probably the intention of the Gowries to keep James in durance for a time, and that his terrors made him imagine that they intended to kill him. That this was the real meaning of the plot was confirmed by the man with the dagger, who turned out to be Andrew Henderson, the steward of the Earl of Gowrie, who on examination repeated that he had been placed in the closet, for what he did not know. It was, moreover, ascertained that the Earl of Gowrie had been in Paris, and in communication with Sir Henry Neville, the Queen of England's ambassador; and it was remembered that an English ship had for some months been cruising in the mouth of the Frith of Forth. Still further confirmation was given by the two younger brothers of the Gowries fleeing into England after the affair at the earl's house, where they remained under protection of Elizabeth. From the constant employment of such intrigues by the Government of Elizabeth, there appears nothing incredible or improbable in this view of the matter.

When James's ambassadors arrived in London they found the conspiracy of Essex at an end, and the earl and his accomplices in the Tower. James, therefore, contemplated some difficulty in business with the Court, but