Page:Witty and entertaining exploits of George Buchanan (10).pdf/6

 I come? Will I come? Will I come?This letter being read before the king and his courtiers, they all concluded that the French king deſigned to invade England; therefore they wrote a letter on purpoſe to ſend to him again upbraid- ing him with the breach of peace and putting him in mind of the laſt treaty. This letter being read over before the King and his Nobles, they all condeſcended that it ſhould be ſent as an anſwer; but George ſmiling and ſhaking his head, cried out, Then they aſked George what he thought the French king meant by ſuch a letter? to which he anſwered, I ſuppose he wants an invitation to come over to dinner, and then go back in a friendly manner; but you are going to charge him with a breach of peace, before he has given any ſignal of of- fence or war: his latter is indeed dark and myſtical, but ſend him an anſwer according to his queſtion. Now George being ordered to write the anſwer, it was, And ye come, And ye come, And ye come. This being ſent to the French King, he admired it beyond expreſſion, ſaying, It was an anſwer more valiant and daring than he expected: ſo the enmity he intended was thereby turned into love.

About this time it happened that a malignant party in Scotland ſent up a great ſpokeſman to the King and Parlia- ment, for the ſeducing of the Church: George hearing of his coming, went away and met him on the bride, and the ſalutation that he gave him was, the cutting off his head, and throwing it over the bridge, then ran to the king with all his might, falling down before him, pleaded moſt hear- tily for a pardon, or without it he was a dead man: the king moſt ſeriouſly aſked him what he had done now? to which he anſwered, He has only thrown the Scots biſhop's hat o- ver the bridge, which made the king to laugh, to hear him aſk pardon tor ſuch a ſmall fault; but he had no ſooner got the pardon ſealed by the kings hand, than he ſaid, indeed my ſovereign, I threw his hat over the bridge, but his head was in it. Geordy, Geordy, ſays the King, thou wilt never give over till thou be hanged.

After this, a nobleman in England agreed with the King how to put a trick upon George, to try his manly courage, in ſending him to a certain houſe for a bag of money. On his way home through St James's Park, they cauſed a ſtur- dy fellow to go and ſet the way upon him, and take the mo-